Into the Wild
A look at L3 acquisition from the onset
and across development
Jorge González Alonso
LAVA / AcqVA
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Roadmap
1. Into the Wild: Trying not to miss the trees for the forest.
2. Defining key variables.
3. Mind the Gap! Rationale and project plan.
4. Some advantages of starting from early observations.
5. Two sample experiments.
6. Is the Devil in the detail?
7. Out of the Wild: Trying not to miss the forest for the trees.
Into the Wild
(Trying not to miss the trees for the forest)
Into the Wild
≡ (Adult) L3/Ln acquisition presents differently to other instances of language acquisition
(L1, 2L1, child and adult L2).
≡ Experience typically accumulates to the benefit of new learning tasks, but in the case of
cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in L3/Ln this may not be so straightforward.
Into the Wild
≡ An aside on transfer (vs. CLI more generally)
꞊ CLI as the broader term (including e.g. slips of the tongue).
꞊ Transfer as a representational sub-type of CLI.
≡ Two corollary assumptions:
꞊ Representational and non-representational CLI can (and will) co-occur.
꞊ (Non-targetlike) transfer yields fairly consistent behaviour.
Into the Wild
≡ (Adult) L3/Ln acquisition presents differently to other instances of language acquisition
(L1, 2L1, child and adult L2).
≡ Experience typically accumulates to the benefit of new learning tasks, but in the case of
cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in L3/Ln this may not be so straightforward.
≡ Which of the previous languages, if any, exerts a larger influence in L3/Ln acquisition?
꞊ One or more variables determine when and whence transfer will obtain (i.e., it is not
random).
꞊ The variable set is weighted.
Into the Wild
≡ We need to understand how these variables interact. This means:
꞊ Being able to explain the data we have collected so far, AND
꞊ Being able to predict unobserved situations.
≡ Identify as many key variables as possible.
≡ Test these variables against each other.
≡ Refine models by considering new variables and adjusting weight, not (always)
replacing.
Defining key variables
Defining key variables
≡ Transfer source selection: two types of variables.
꞊ Key variables.
꞊ Secondary variables.
≡ Plan designs around key factors, control for secondary variables.
≡ Simultaneously evaluate as many key factors as possible:
꞊ Order of acquisition.
꞊ Structural similarity.
꞊ Degree of MLK.
꞊ Dominance / recency of activation.
꞊ …
Mind the Gap!
Rationale and project plan
Mind the Gap!
≡
Title: Mind the Gap! How do L3 learners move beyond the initial stages?
≡
Collaborators: Jason Rothman, Marit Westergaard, Björn Lundquist, Natalia Mitrofanova.
≡ Aim: To investigate the dynamics of transfer in L3/Ln acquisition from the onset, and along
transitional stages from low to intermediate proficiency.
≡
Methods: as many as we can think of!
꞊ Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies.
꞊ Natural vs. artificial language learning.
꞊ Explicit vs. implicit instruction.
꞊ Production and comprehension.
꞊ Offline (e.g., AJT) and online (e.g. eye-tracking) measures.
Some advantages of starting
from early observations
L3/Ln transfer and the initial stages
≡ Three main reasons:
꞊ It is relevant to the specific characteristics of the object of study.
− Start of a developmental process.
꞊ It is motivated by the theoretical landscape of the field.
− Typological Primacy Model.
꞊ We can expect larger amounts of relevant data.
− L3 grammar more underspecified (greater chance of [non-facilitative] transfer).
− Instances of acquisition proper less likely (facilitative transfer less confounded).
L3/Ln transfer and the initial stages
≡ Intermediate stages of development.
꞊ Does initial stages transfer have enduring implications for the rest of the process?
− Yes it does!
꞊ How can we use intermediate stages data to understand early transfer? (González
Alonso & Rothman, 2016)
− If early non-facilitative transfer has compromised learnability, its effects might be
observable until relatively late in development.
Two sample experiments
Exp 1: Gender prediction in Spanish
≡ Context: ab initio longitudinal study of Spanish L3 acquisition by Norwegian-English
sequential bilinguals (age: 12-13).
≡ Methodology: eye-tracking (visual-world paradigm). Following Lew-Williams & Fernald
(2007), a. o.
≡ Model-related predictions: given enough knowledge of the nouns and their gender
assignment, if knowledge of grammatical gender agreement is available from previous
languages these learners should be able to transfer it.
≡ Procedure:
1. Train the nouns!
2. Test knowledge of nouns and right assignment.
3. Do test in L3 (Spanish).
4. Do test in L1 (Norwegian).
Haz click en… / Selecciona…
…la casa
Exp 1: Gender prediction in Spanish
≡ Article lasts for ~500 ms.
≡ The gender of the article (la (fem) vs. el (masc) can help predict the upcoming noun.
≡ This should show in an earlier non-chance proportion of looks to the target picture in
trials where the target and the distractor are of different gender.
Exp 1: Gender prediction in Spanish
≡ (Very) preliminary results (N=12). Norwegian: effective gender-based prediction (neuter
vs. masculine; see Lundquist et al., 2016):
Exp 1: Gender prediction in Spanish
≡ Spanish: no gender-based prediction, despite knowledge of nouns and correct
assignment.
Exp 2: Case and word order in an AL
≡ Context: laboratory setting L3/L4 learning, Norwegian-English and Russian-Norwegian
sequential bilinguals.
≡ AL (aliensk) has Norwegian-based vocabulary with overt case marking on the nouns (like
Russian). SVO and OVS orders are grammatically possible, as long as case is in place.
≡ Model-related predictions:
꞊ If overall structural proximity, both groups  Norwegian.
꞊ If transfer is selective and property-based: Rus-Nor > Nor-Eng
Exp 2: Case and word order in an AL
≡ (Very) preliminary results:
Is the Devil in the detail?
Is the Devil in the detail?
≡ At first glance, both groups seem to be similarly accurate (57% vs. 63%).
≡ Distribution of correct responses across conditions suggests special behaviour of NorEng group.
꞊ E.g., much better at an ungrammatical condition.
≡ Response bias analysis can explain this.
꞊ By computing the hit/false alarm ratio, we can detect if subjects have a tendency to
respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by default.
Is the Devil in the detail?
Is the Devil in the detail?
Group
Word order
Nor-Eng
B″D
0.3523
OVS
Rus-Nor
0.0674
Nor-Eng
-0.3951
Rus-Nor
SVO
-0.1108
NOTE:
Values close to 0 indicate no bias. Negative and positive values
indicate liberal and conservative biases, respectively.
Is the Devil in the detail?
Out of the Wild
(Trying not to miss the forest for the trees)
Out of the Wild
≡ (Adult) L3/Ln acquisition presents differently to other instances of language acquisition
(L1, 2L1, child and adult L2).
≡ Transfer (i.e., representational CLI) is a major factor contributing to this uniqueness, but
it is not the only one.
꞊ Even if we develop an explanatorily adequate theory of transfer in L3/Ln, we will
only have a part of the picture.
≡ Understanding as many of the variables at play as possible, and determining how they
interact, allows us to make specific predictions, which we need if we want to derive
implications for applied contexts.
≡ L3/Ln morphosyntactic transfer is one of many scenarios in which prior knowledge helps
constrain a learning task.
Tusen takk!
Thank you!
¡Gracias!
Dziękuję!