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ERIC Number: EJ841053
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1479-0718
EISSN: N/A
Age and Third Language Production: A Longitudinal Study
de Zarobe, Yolanda Ruiz
International Journal of Multilingualism, v2 n2 p105-112 2005
This longitudinal study examines the acquisition of subject pronouns in third language (L3) production. Participants were 90 Basque-Spanish bilingual students, learning English as a third language in a formal setting in the Basque Country. All the participants, who had received the same amount of exposure to English, were divided into three groups according to their age, and were asked to perform an oral and a written production task, after four, six and eight years of instruction in English, to examine their behaviour in relation to subject pronoun usage. The study yields different results in both production tests. In the case of the oral task, our data provide support for a positive relationship between subject pronoun usage and the number of utterances produced. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be any steady connection between subject omissions and the mean number of words used by the different groups. Concerning the written production task, age seems to be positively related to subject pronoun usage. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the behaviour of subject pronouns in the periods under study. The fact can be associated with language complexity, which reaches higher levels longitudinally. (Contains 7 tables.)
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A