Explore the vast range of titles available.

This article deals with the realization of referential subjects in the L2 Spanish of German (adult) native speakers. The acquisition of a null subject grammar by speakers of a non-null subject language has drawn considerable attention in generative approaches to L2 acquisition. This article revisits the issue and compares the predictions made by the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace 2005, 2011, Sorace and Filiaci 2006, Tsimpli and Sorace 2006) to an alternative, the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere 2008, Slabakova 2013 Cho and Slabakova 2014). Relying on corpus data, the study presents a novel empirical approach and applies an innovate statistical analysis procedure from learner corpus research. The results of the study corroborate previous empirical findings, namely that pronouns, yet not null subjects, are problematic, but also brings in new insights, in particular that issues with pronouns are consistent and go beyond the contexts predicted by the Interface Hypothesis. The contrasts between L1 and L2 subject realization found in the data therefore can only in part be explained to result from interface issues. The Feature Reassembly Hypothesis offers a suitable additional explanation relating the issues to the properties of the L1 and L2 learnability.

The aim of this article is to analyse the acquisition of object–verb/verb–object word order in Spanish and Basque by monolinguals (L1), early simultaneous bilinguals (2L1) and successive bilinguals, exposed to their second language before ages 5–6 (child L2). In this study, the second language (child L2) is acquired naturalistically, in a preschool setting with no formal instruction for the Basque L2 speakers and by environmental contact for the Spanish L2 speakers. Spanish and Basque are differentiated by their canonical word order as subject–verb–object and subject–object–verb, respectively. In Spanish, the subject–verb–object order is predominant (almost exclusive) in narrative contexts, whereas in Basque, both object–verb and verb–object word orders are possible in these contexts for pragmatic reasons, with a similar use in everyday language. The productions of a few L1 and 2L1 subjects are analysed longitudinally within the 1;06–3;00 age span. Cross-sectional data from 49 subjects who developed a child L2 are analysed at ages 5 and 8. The results reveal that the bilingual children apply the same syntactic patterns as the monolinguals in their respective languages independently of 2L1 or child L2 acquisition.

This study examines the use of Dutch passive constructions by French-speaking L2 learners in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and non-CLIL educational settings. While prior research has documented CLIL benefits in areas such as vocabulary acquisition (e.g., Bayram et al., 2019) and listening comprehension (e.g., Nieto Moreno de Diezmas, 2018), its impact on the acquisition of more complex syntactic structures like the passive voice remains underexplored. Employing a mixed-methods design, this study triangulates spontaneous productions from the Multilingual Traditional Immersion and Native Corpus (MulTINCo) (Hiligsmann et al., 2021) with data from a controlled elicitation task. Results show that CLIL learners produce passive constructions more frequently than their non-CLIL peers but demonstrate lower morphosyntactic accuracy. Their production diverges from native patterns in agent expression, favoring medial agent placement, alongside a marked overreliance on zijn-passives and a notable absence of impersonal passives. These findings indicate that while CLIL instruction may enhance structural engagement and syntactic experimentation, it does not guarantee consistent target-like accuracy. The study underscores the importance of supplementing content-based exposure with explicit, form-focused instruction to facilitate the accurate acquisition of complex grammatical forms in CLIL contexts.

This study examines the role of the Referential Hierarchy, as proposed by Cyrino, Duarte, & Kato (2000) based on diachronic data from Brazilian Portuguese (BP), in the restructuring of pronominal systems in L2 English. Participants were 71 Portuguese learners of L2 English (17 B1, 18 B2, 18 C1, 18 C2) and 12 adult native speakers of English. They were administered two speeded acceptability judgement tasks. The task on subjects crossed the variables overtness (null vs. overt) and referentiality (2p + human vs. 3p + human vs. 3p - human vs. expletive). The task on objects similarly manipulated overtness and referentiality, contrasting third-person objects with [+ human] and [-human] antecedents. Results reveal striking parallels between L2 acquisition (in L1 EP – L2 English) and diachronic change (as observed in BP), demonstrating that, in both cases, changes involving null categories unfold gradually rather than abruptly, and are guided by a common underlying principle: referentiality.

We introduce the blueprint of the Ontogenesis Model of the L2 Lexical Representation (OM) that focuses on the development of lexical representations. The OM has three dimensions: linguistic domains (phonological, orthographic, and semantic), mappings between domains, and networks of lexical representations. The model assumes that fuzziness is a pervasive property of the L2 lexicon: most L2 lexical representations are low resolution and the ontogenetic curve of their development does not reach the optimum (i.e., the ultimate stage of their attainment with optimal encoding) in one or more dimensions. We review the findings on lexical processing and vocabulary training to show that the OM has a potential to provide an interpretation for the results that have been treated separately and to move us forward in building a comprehensive model of L2 lexical acquisition and processing.

Previous research suggests that increased second language (L2) input at home may not support L2 acquisition in children from migrant backgrounds. In drawing this conclusion, existing work has largely aggregated across family members. This study contrasts the effect of L2 input from older siblings with that from mothers. Participants were 113 child L2 learners of English (mean age = 5;10 [range 4;10–7;2]; mean exposure to L2 in school = 16.7 months [range 2–48 months]). All children had at least one older sibling. Using hierarchical linear regression modelling with controls for age, non-verbal reasoning and phonological short-term memory, we found that greater L2 input from siblings – but not mothers – was associated with stronger L2 abilities in narrative macrostructure, inflectional morphology, and vocabulary. Increased cumulative exposure to the L2 at school and greater maternal L2 fluency were also positively related to children's L2 inflectional morphology and vocabulary scores.

This paper discusses our state-of-the-art knowledge of the role of intercultural competence in L2 acquisition in the context of study abroad programmes. As participation in study abroad programmes intensifies it is pertinent to ask whether and how such instructional context benefits language learners. Challenging the popular assumption that immersion contexts suffice to trigger acquisition, current research points to the role of intercultural competence before the sojourn in increasing chances for success. To explain this role, intercultural competence is presented in this paper in relation to other variables both linguistic (proficiency level, input and output opportunities) and non-linguistic (age, aptitude, motivation, willingness to communicate, and personality). The most popular data collection tools are also discussed and conclusions are offered.

This studyinvestigates how Korean learners of English interpret positive polar questions (PPQs)and the two structurally distinct negative polar questions (NPQs). Thirty classroom‑basedEFL learners in Korea and sixty immersion‑based ESL learners in the United Statescompleted a series of three online experiment. Each task paired an unambiguous visualprompt with either a PPQ, a high‑negation NPQ (Didn’t you see…?), or a low‑negationNPQ (Did you really not see…?). Response times and answering patterns reveal a cleardissociation. Immersive exposure yields near‑native performance on the high‑negationNPQs, yet both learner groups—most strikingly the higher‑proficiency ESL cohort—show severe difficulty with low‑negation NPQs, producing up to 74 % unexpectedanswers and significantly slower responses. These results challenge the traditional“polarity‑ vs. truth‑based” dichotomy, demonstrating that acquisition hinges on inputfrequency and explicit form–meaning mapping rather than overall proficiency. Pedagogically, targeted instruction on inner‑VP negation is recommended. KCI Citation Count: 0

In order to identify the causes of inflectional variability in adult second-language (L2) acquisition, this study investigates lexical and syntactic aspects of gender processing in real-time L2 production and comprehension. Twenty advanced to near-native adult first language (L1) English speakers of L2 German and 20 native controls were tested in a study comprising two experiments. In elicited production, we probe accuracy in lexical gender assignment. In a visual-world eye tracking task, we test the predictive processing of syntactic gender agreement between determiners and nouns. The findings show clear contingencies (1) between overall accuracy in lexical gender assignment in production and target predictive processing of syntactic gender agreement in comprehension and (2) between the speed of lexical access and predictive syntactic gender agreement. These findings support lexical and computational accounts of L2 inflectional variability and argue against models positing representational deficits in morphosyntax in late L2 acquisition and processing.

During the colonial period (16th - 19th centuries), Brazil was a multilingual country, home to Portuguese, Indigenous peoples, and Africans. Portuguese was learned as a second language by the Africans brought to Brazil by the slave trade, mainly under the influence of the Bantu languages the slaves spoke. From this language contact, an Afro-Brazilian Portuguese variety has emerged (ABP) which displays a ditransitive construction with an unmarked Goal dative, and V-Goal-Theme order, similar to Double Object Constructions (DOC) in English. We propose that the so-called DOC in ABP can be understood in terms of the Maximizing Minimal Means model (Biberauer 2018, 2019). In this model, Feature Economy and Feature/Input Generalization (Biberauer & Roberts 2017) constitute a major factor in L2 learning in contact scenarios. For the innovative ABP structure, the [+animate] and low applicative features of the Bantu substrate grammars are shown to have been key in the first generation’s L2 acquisition of a marked Classical Portuguese V-Goal-Theme structure. The structure becomes established in subsequent L1 acquisition of ABP, with expansion beyond the original core structures.