Chapter 5. The second language acquisition of grammatical gender and number in Italian
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Dalila Ayoun
Abstract
This cross-sectional empirical study tested the ability of Anglophone L2 learners of Italian (n = 87) to assign grammatical gender and number to a subset of isolated nouns drawn from a written corpus of current magazine and newspaper articles. Italian native speakers served as controls (n = 109). We first present a descriptive account of grammatical gender that outlines several idiosyncrasies and complexities than may lead to difficulties for L2 learners, particularly English native speakers, from a Feature Reassembly approach and a Minimalist perspective. We then discuss L2 learnability implications in light of the results of a written, computerized gender assignment task (GAT) showing significant effects for gender and number, ambiguous vs. transparent nouns, but not for suffixed vs non-suffixed nouns.
Abstract
This cross-sectional empirical study tested the ability of Anglophone L2 learners of Italian (n = 87) to assign grammatical gender and number to a subset of isolated nouns drawn from a written corpus of current magazine and newspaper articles. Italian native speakers served as controls (n = 109). We first present a descriptive account of grammatical gender that outlines several idiosyncrasies and complexities than may lead to difficulties for L2 learners, particularly English native speakers, from a Feature Reassembly approach and a Minimalist perspective. We then discuss L2 learnability implications in light of the results of a written, computerized gender assignment task (GAT) showing significant effects for gender and number, ambiguous vs. transparent nouns, but not for suffixed vs non-suffixed nouns.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Review chapters
- Chapter 2. Gender assignment in mixed noun phrases 13
- Chapter 3. Empirical evidence for subtle gender biases in language 49
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of grammatical gender in child and adult heritage speakers of Spanish 71
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Part II. Child, adult and heritage speakers
- Chapter 5. The second language acquisition of grammatical gender and number in Italian 97
- Chapter 6. Grammatical gender and article use in beginning learners of German 127
- Chapter 7. The non-default gender category in additional-language French 157
- Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical gender agreement in Spanish 183
- Chapter 9. Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual grammars 209
- Chapter 10. Prediction on the basis of gender and number in Mandarin-Italian bilingual children 243
- Language index 273
- Name index 275
- Subject index 281
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Review chapters
- Chapter 2. Gender assignment in mixed noun phrases 13
- Chapter 3. Empirical evidence for subtle gender biases in language 49
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of grammatical gender in child and adult heritage speakers of Spanish 71
-
Part II. Child, adult and heritage speakers
- Chapter 5. The second language acquisition of grammatical gender and number in Italian 97
- Chapter 6. Grammatical gender and article use in beginning learners of German 127
- Chapter 7. The non-default gender category in additional-language French 157
- Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical gender agreement in Spanish 183
- Chapter 9. Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual grammars 209
- Chapter 10. Prediction on the basis of gender and number in Mandarin-Italian bilingual children 243
- Language index 273
- Name index 275
- Subject index 281
