Gender Assignment and Agreement in L2 Spanish: The Effects of Morphological Marking, Animacy, and Gender
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Irma V. Alarcón
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between second language (L2) Spanish gender assignment and agreement and specific noun categories by distinguishing the effects of noun morphology (overt, non-overt, or deceptive), noun class (semantic or non-semantic), and gender (masculine or feminine). Specifically, assuming the correct acquisition of gender assignment, how do noun morphology, class and gender affect correct gender agreement when using the same type of noun? One hundred and seven English-speaking learners of Spanish at three proficiency levels completed an assignment and agreement written production task, in which they were first asked the gender of a noun (assignment), and then to provide an agreeing adjective in a meaningful context (agreement). Results showed that the probability of producing correct agreement given correct assignment was significantly higher with semantic than with non-semantic nouns, with overt rather than non-overt and/or deceptive nouns, and with masculine rather than feminine nouns. The discussion provides insights concerning how animacy (semantic gender) overrides morphology when establishing correct gender agreement in L2 Spanish.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Front Matter
- Contents
- Research Articles
- Gender Assignment and Agreement in L2 Spanish: The Effects of Morphological Marking, Animacy, and Gender
- A Case of Grammaticalization in the Use of the Perfect for the Preterite in Bilbao Spanish
- Testing the Cognitive Load Hypothesis: Repair Rates and Usage in a Bilingual Community
- Perceptions of Second Person Singular Pronoun Use in San Salvador, El Salvador
- Intervocalic Tap and Trill Production in the Acquisition of Spanish as a Second Language
- Book Reviews
- Martínez-Cachero Laseca: La enseñanza del español en el sistema educativo brasileño / O ensino do espanhol no sistema educativo brasileiro.
- State Of The Discipline. Topic: Pidgin And Creole Studies
- Pidgin and Creole Studies: Their Interface with Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
- Viewpoints. Topic: The Place of Naturallyoccurring and Elicited Data in Linguistic Studies
- The Necessity of Both Naturally-Occurring and Elicited Data in Spanish Intonational Phonology
- Beyond “Naturalistic”: On the Role of Task Characteristics and the Importance of Multiple Elicitation Methods
- Naturalistic and Elicited Data in Grammatical Studies of Codeswitching
- The Place of Conversational Data in Spanish Syntax: Topic, Focus, and Word Order
Articles in the same Issue
- Front Matter
- Contents
- Research Articles
- Gender Assignment and Agreement in L2 Spanish: The Effects of Morphological Marking, Animacy, and Gender
- A Case of Grammaticalization in the Use of the Perfect for the Preterite in Bilbao Spanish
- Testing the Cognitive Load Hypothesis: Repair Rates and Usage in a Bilingual Community
- Perceptions of Second Person Singular Pronoun Use in San Salvador, El Salvador
- Intervocalic Tap and Trill Production in the Acquisition of Spanish as a Second Language
- Book Reviews
- Martínez-Cachero Laseca: La enseñanza del español en el sistema educativo brasileño / O ensino do espanhol no sistema educativo brasileiro.
- State Of The Discipline. Topic: Pidgin And Creole Studies
- Pidgin and Creole Studies: Their Interface with Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
- Viewpoints. Topic: The Place of Naturallyoccurring and Elicited Data in Linguistic Studies
- The Necessity of Both Naturally-Occurring and Elicited Data in Spanish Intonational Phonology
- Beyond “Naturalistic”: On the Role of Task Characteristics and the Importance of Multiple Elicitation Methods
- Naturalistic and Elicited Data in Grammatical Studies of Codeswitching
- The Place of Conversational Data in Spanish Syntax: Topic, Focus, and Word Order
