ERIC Number: EJ1368053
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7817
L2 Representation and Processing of Spanish Focus
Leal, Tania; Hoot, Bradley
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v29 n4 p410-440 2022
Research on second-language (L2) acquisition has identified linguistic domains that appear to be especially difficult to learn--one such sticking point being syntactic structures that depend on the surrounding discourse. The Interface Hypothesis (IH) explains what makes such constructions problematic by appealing to a modular view of language, arguing that integrating knowledge from language-internal domains (e.g., syntax) with language-external domains (e.g., discourse) overwhelms the finite processing resources of L2 learners, especially when integration happens in real time. We test the IH with a syntax-discourse interface phenomenon in Spanish: information focus. The facts about information focus in L1 and L2 Spanish have been enthusiastically debated, but what is missing from these debates is evidence that directly indexes processing, which is essential to evaluate the IH. We use an off-line forced-choice judgment task and an online self-paced reading task to provide a new source of evidence of L2 acquisition of Spanish focus. We find that L1-English/L2-Spanish learners largely resemble L1-Spanish natives in both their judgments and their processing of focus, contrary to the predictions of the IH.
Descriptors: Spanish, Language Processing, Second Language Learning, Language Research, Syntax, Linguistic Theory, Native Language, Decision Making, Task Analysis, Reading Processes, English, Prediction, Bilingualism, Profiles, Comparative Analysis, Second Language Instruction, Age Differences, Language Usage, Questioning Techniques
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A