Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)
Abstract
This investigation explored the impact of prior acquired languages in the acquisition of third language (L3) at initial stages. The required data were gathered via two groups of L3 learners: 27 learners of L3 French and 26 learners of L3 German during a grammaticality judgement task (GJT) and an element rearrangement task (ERT) to test the placement of noun adjuncts and attributive adjectives. Both groups had acquired Persian as the first language and English as the second language. The participants were assigned to two L2 proficiency level groups (intermediate and advanced). The findings revealed that L3 German participants outperformed L3 French learners in the attributive adjective placement in both tasks as well as the noun adjunct in the GJT task. The L3 groups showed similar levels of performance in the ERT noun adjunct task. Additionally, the effect of L2 level of proficiency was not significant. The results also indicated that the typological similarity of L2 English to German rather than French rendered a facilitative effect on task performance in the L3 German group and a non-facilitative effect in the L3 French group. This study provides evidence for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of L3 acquisition suggesting that L3 learners are influenced by the typological similarities of the previous languages they have already acquired.
Appendix 1: French grammaticality judgement task (FGJT)
Correct attributive adjectives | ||
1. C’est une région froide. | 6. John a un crayon vert. | |
2. C’est un livre intéressant. | 7. Ils sont une famille heureuse. | |
3. Il est un homme maigre. | 8. J’ai vu un film d’horreur. | |
4. Il a une grand mère malade. | 9. C’est une maison chère. | |
5. J’ai une voiture noire. | ||
Incorrect attributive adjectives | ||
1. Aujourd’hui est une chaude journée. | 6. C’est une pas chère jupe. | |
2. J’ai mangé un délicieux dîner. | 7. Voici une très peuplée ville. | |
3. J’ai une japonaise amie. | 8. Il a mangé une rouge pomme. | |
4. C’est une animée rue. | 9. J’ai une sale chemise. | |
5. C’est une propre chambre. | ||
Correct noun adjuncts | ||
1. C’est une table de cuisine. | 6. J’aime le jus de pomme. | |
2. C’est un verre en papier. | 7. C’est un jeu en ordinateur. | |
3. J’aime la soupe au poulet. | 8. Le bus scolaire est là. | |
4. J’aime les sports collectifs. | 9. Elle est une professeure de chimie. | |
5. Mon frère est un fan de football. | ||
Incorrect noun adjuncts | ||
1. C’est de chimie un laboratoire. | 6. Je regarde de tennis le jeu. | |
2. J’ai son de téléphone numéro. | 7. Il est d’histoire professeur. | |
3. C’est de maths un problème. | 8. Je vais de cuisine au cours. | |
4. Je suis dans en ville le taxi. | 9. C’est d’anniversaire une fête. | |
5. C’est de chambre la porte. | ||
Distractors | ||
1. Ce sont deux table. | 8. J’ai une soeur. | |
2. Vous travaille ici. | 9. Elle es fatiguée. | |
3. Mon livre est dans mon sac. | 10. Les étudiants son de la classe. | |
4. Il a mangé trois sandwichs. | 11. C’est deux voitures. | |
5. Tu ai une photo. | 12. Ma mère est une cuisinière. | |
6. Tu aime la pizza. | 13. Il est un médecin. | |
7. Tu est heureux | 14. L’enseignant n’est pas dans l’école. | |
15. Il travaille dans un bureau. |
Appendix 2: French element rearrangement task (FERT)
French attributive adjectives | ||
1. dessert /fait /un /ma /mère/délicieux. | 8. j’aime /jours/les/neigeux. | |
2. jeu/ un/ intéressant/ c’est. | 9. bon /marche/ c’est /sac /un. | |
3. frère /un /mon /homme /actif /est. | 10. c’est/ homme/ un/ triste. | |
4. elle/ un/ a /bleu/ manteau. | 11. chambre/ c’est/ chaude/ une | |
5. mon/ aime/ père/ le suject/ de/ philosophique. | 12. c’est/une/bavarde/femme. | |
6. vous /avez /un /chapeau/ jaune. | 13. j’ai /vélo /un /cher/. | |
7. c’est/ facile/ question/ une. | 14. en /zone/ vit/ montagneuse/ il. | |
15. expérimenté/il est/un/professeur/. | ||
French noun adjuncts | ||
1. de/camion/il/chauffeur/est. | 8. il /jardin /un /de /fruits /a. | |
2. travaille/dans/il/commercial/un/centre. | 9. j’ai /un /billet /de /cinéma. | |
3. le /d’hiver/ jeu /un/ est/ ski. | 10. bébé /une /le /voiture /a /jouet | |
4. j’aime / cette/ à chambre/d’hôtel. | 11. liste /la /de /j’ai /courses. | |
5. c’est/ de/ taxi/ une/ station. | 12. c’est /une /lampe /de /lit. | |
6. de /un/ livre /c’est/cuisine. | 13. c’est/blé/ une/ferme/ de. | |
7. j’ai /une/ à/ cheveux/ brosse. | 14. c’est /assiette /est/ une /verre/ en. | |
Distractors (FERT) | ||
1. Susan/ à /vit/ Paris. | 6. il /ya /une/ lettre /pour/ lui. | |
2. pas/ j’ai / ne/ d’ordinateur. | 7. il /une /est /infirmière. | |
3. vous /restaurant /êtes /au. | 8. je /tous/ du /lait/ les/ jours/ bois. | |
4. la/ photo/ est/ sur/ le /mur. | 9. la /fille /si /est/ belle. | |
5. a/ un/ bébé/ elle. | 10. cuisine/ notre /est/ petite. |
Appendix 3: German grammaticality judgement task (GGJT)
Correct attributive adjectives | |
1. Hier ist ein kalter Bereich. | 6. John hat einen grünen Bleistift. |
2. Das ist ein interessantes Buch. | 7. Das ist eine fröhliche Familie. |
3. Er hat eine kranke Großmutter. | 8. Er ist ein dünner Mann. |
4. Ich habe ein schwarzes Auto. | 9. Ich sah einen Horrorfilm. |
5. Das ist ein teures Haus. | |
Incorrect attributive adjectives | |
1. Heute ist ein Tag warmer. | 6. Das ist ein Rock billiger. |
2. Ich esse ein Abendessen leckeres. | 7. Hier ist eine Stadt überfüllte. |
3. Ich habe einen Freund japanischen. | 8. Heute ist ein Regentag schöner. |
4. Das ist eine Straße überfüllte. | 9. Er isst einen Apfel roten. |
5. Das ist ein Zimmer sauberes. | 10. Ich habe ein Hemd schmutziges. |
Correct noun adjuncts | |
1. Das ist ein Küchentisch. | 7. Das ist ein Computerspiel. |
2. Das ist eine Papiertasse. | 6. Ich liebe den Apfelsaft. |
3. Ich liebe die Hühnersuppe. | 8. Dort gibt es einen Schulbus. |
4. Ich liebe den Mannschaftssport. | 9. Er ist ein Chemielehrer. |
5. Mein Bruder ist ein Fußballfan. | 10. Er kauft einen Schokoladenkuchen. |
Incorrect noun adjuncts | |
1. Das ist ein Laborchemie. | 5. Ich sehe das Spieltennis. |
2. Ich habe seine Nummertelefon. | 6. Das ist ein Lehrergeschichts. |
3. Das ist ein Problem mathematisches. | 7. Das ist ein Feldweizen. |
4. Das ist eine Türzimmer. | 8. Ich mag den Kurskoch. |
German distractors | |
1. Das sind zwei Tische. | 8. Sie ist müde. |
2. Das Buch ist in meiner Tasche. | 9. Es gibt zwei Autos. |
3. Ihr arbeitet hier. | 10. Die Schüler und Schülerinnen sind in der Klasse |
4. Meine Mutter ist eine Chefin. | 11. Sie hat ein Foto. |
5. Er ist Arzt. | 12. Sie liebt die Pizza. |
6. Der Lehrer ist nicht in der Schule. | 13. Du bist glücklich. |
7. Er arbeitet in einem Büro. | 14. Ich habe eine Schwester. |
Appendix 4: German element rearrangement task (GERT)
Put the words in the correct order and make any necessary changes: German attributive adjectives | |
1. Mutter/ein hat /dessert/leckeres/meine/gemacht. | |
2. das/wunderbares/ein/Spiel/ist. | 9. er/ist/trauriger/ein/Mann. |
3. mein/Mann/ein/ist /Bruder/aktiver. | 10. warmes/das/ein/ ist/Zimmer. |
4. sie/Mantel/einen/ hat/blauen. | 11. liebe/verschneite/ich/Tage. |
5. Themen/mein/liebt/vater/philosophische. | 12. ein/Fahrrad /habe/ich/teures. |
6. hat/gelben/einen/sie/Hut. | 13. bergigen/er/lebt/einer/in/Gegend. |
7. einfache/das/ Frage/eine/ist. | 14. er/Lehrer/ein/ist/erfahrener. |
8. ist/Frau/eine/sie/gesprächige. | |
German noun adjuncts (GERT) | |
1. lastwagen/er/fahrer/ist/ein. | 8. einen/obst/er/hat/garten. |
2. kino/ich/kaufe/eine/ karte. | 9. sport/ski/ist/ein/winter. |
3. sohn/der/ein/hat/spiel/auto. | 10. eine/ mode/ich/lese/zeitschrift. |
4. ich/nicht/das/ mag/zimmer/hotel. | 11. das/ist/lampe/eine/schlafzimmer. |
5. das/wohn/ist/zimmer/ein. | 12. eine/ist/ wand/das/stein. |
6. das/koch/ein/ist/buch. | 13. teller/er/glas/hat/einen. |
7. ich/habe/eine/bürste/haar. | |
Distractors (GERT) | |
1. lebt /Susanne/ in/ Paris. | 6. ein/ haben/ sie/Kind. |
2. habe/ ich/Computer/ keinen. | 7. sie/ eine/ Krankenschwester/ ist. |
3. Restaurant /ist/ sie / im. | 8. Milch/ ich/ trinke /täglich. |
4. Wand/ ist/ an/der/ Foto/das. | 9. schön/ ist/ Tochter /deine. |
5. gibt/ es/ Brief/ einen/ sie/ für. | 10. ist/ klein/ unsere/ Küche. |
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2020-0013).
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- English and Spanish speakers’ interpretations of L2 Chinese applicative double object constructions
- (Mis) perception of consonant clusters and short vowels in English as a foreign language
- Phraseological complexity and low- and intermediate-level L2 learners’ writing quality
- The use of blocking and inhibition training in processing instruction
- Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge
- Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)
- Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German
- Acquisition of morphology by L2 children in naturalistic environments: a case of Japanese case markers
- N-gram use in EFL learners’ retelling and monologic tasks
- The structure of L2 lexical-semantic networks as seen from a social network perspective
- Deciphering the role of multilingualism in creativity at university: the influence of context
- The associations between working memory and the effects of multimedia input on L2 vocabulary learning
- The acquisition of relative clauses by Spanish-Basque learners of L3 English: does dominance play a role?
- The impact of pragmalinguistic support on video-conferenced collaborative suggestion-giving task
- L2 writing development through two types of writing task repetition
- Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages
- Immediate and long-term improvement in lexical stress perception: the role of teacher and peer feedback
- Exploring the pseudo-longitudinal development of specific morphosyntactic features and syntactic complexity in CLIL young learners
- Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: the case of Chinese college EFL students
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- English and Spanish speakers’ interpretations of L2 Chinese applicative double object constructions
- (Mis) perception of consonant clusters and short vowels in English as a foreign language
- Phraseological complexity and low- and intermediate-level L2 learners’ writing quality
- The use of blocking and inhibition training in processing instruction
- Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge
- Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)
- Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German
- Acquisition of morphology by L2 children in naturalistic environments: a case of Japanese case markers
- N-gram use in EFL learners’ retelling and monologic tasks
- The structure of L2 lexical-semantic networks as seen from a social network perspective
- Deciphering the role of multilingualism in creativity at university: the influence of context
- The associations between working memory and the effects of multimedia input on L2 vocabulary learning
- The acquisition of relative clauses by Spanish-Basque learners of L3 English: does dominance play a role?
- The impact of pragmalinguistic support on video-conferenced collaborative suggestion-giving task
- L2 writing development through two types of writing task repetition
- Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages
- Immediate and long-term improvement in lexical stress perception: the role of teacher and peer feedback
- Exploring the pseudo-longitudinal development of specific morphosyntactic features and syntactic complexity in CLIL young learners
- Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: the case of Chinese college EFL students