Reference comprehension and production in bilingual Spanish
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Aurora Bel
Abstract
Recent work suggests that bilingual speakers do not seem to behave native-like when syntax and pragmatics converge (Sorace, 2011). This study investigates subject pronouns because they allow observing how speakers integrate morphosyntactic forms with pragmatic information. Our goal is to determine whether Moroccan Arabic (MA)/Spanish bilinguals display different antecedent biases for null and overt pronoun both in comprehension and production when the two languages of the bilinguals are both null-subject languages. We tested two groups: MA/Spanish bilinguals and native speakers of Spanish. Participants completed an acceptability judgment test and a written narrative task. Results suggest an L1-like strategy in the comprehension and production of null pronouns whereas overt pronouns seem to diverge suggesting an overproduction/over acceptance, in line with previous work.
Abstract
Recent work suggests that bilingual speakers do not seem to behave native-like when syntax and pragmatics converge (Sorace, 2011). This study investigates subject pronouns because they allow observing how speakers integrate morphosyntactic forms with pragmatic information. Our goal is to determine whether Moroccan Arabic (MA)/Spanish bilinguals display different antecedent biases for null and overt pronoun both in comprehension and production when the two languages of the bilinguals are both null-subject languages. We tested two groups: MA/Spanish bilinguals and native speakers of Spanish. Participants completed an acceptability judgment test and a written narrative task. Results suggest an L1-like strategy in the comprehension and production of null pronouns whereas overt pronouns seem to diverge suggesting an overproduction/over acceptance, in line with previous work.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements 1
- L2 acquisition 3
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Part I. Parameters and beyond
- Pro-drop then and now 17
- Reference comprehension and production in bilingual Spanish 37
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Part II. Features and crossroads L1/L2
- When masculine as default supercedes L1 transfer 73
- L2 knowledge of gender and number agreement in Spanish noun ellipsis 99
- Not just algunos , but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish 125
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Part III. Word order and complex structures
- Comprehension of subject and object relative clauses by second language learners of Spanish 149
- On the production of differential object marking and wh -question formation in native and non-native Spanish 187
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Part IV. Monolingual and bilingual first language acquisition
- In search of the perfect tense 213
- The acquisition of grammatical gender in L1 bilingual Spanish 237
- Applying computing innovations to bilingual corpus analysis 281
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements 1
- L2 acquisition 3
-
Part I. Parameters and beyond
- Pro-drop then and now 17
- Reference comprehension and production in bilingual Spanish 37
-
Part II. Features and crossroads L1/L2
- When masculine as default supercedes L1 transfer 73
- L2 knowledge of gender and number agreement in Spanish noun ellipsis 99
- Not just algunos , but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish 125
-
Part III. Word order and complex structures
- Comprehension of subject and object relative clauses by second language learners of Spanish 149
- On the production of differential object marking and wh -question formation in native and non-native Spanish 187
-
Part IV. Monolingual and bilingual first language acquisition
- In search of the perfect tense 213
- The acquisition of grammatical gender in L1 bilingual Spanish 237
- Applying computing innovations to bilingual corpus analysis 281
- Index 303
