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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show abnormal speech prosody. Tonal languages can pose more difficulties as speakers need to use acoustic cues to make lexical contrasts while encoding the focal function, but the acquisition of speech prosody of non-native languages, especially tonal languages has rarely been investigated. This study aims to fill in the aforementioned gap by studying prosodic focus-marking in Mandarin by native Cantonese-speaking children with ASD (n = 25), in comparison with their typically developing (TD) peers (n = 20) and native Mandarin-speaking children (n = 20). Natural prosodic marking of different types of focus was elicited by picture-based prompt questions, recorded and analyzed acoustically. The autistic children made use of fewer acoustic cues and produced less evident on-focus expansion in these cues than TD, especially the native-Mandarin speaking peers. They also demonstrated a clear preference to on-focus expansion than to post-focus compression. These children, together with their native Cantonese-speaking peers, also hyper-performed in tone realization, prioritizing lexical prosody over focus marking. Such hyper-performance may further limit their use of prosodic cues in focus marking. However, the difficulties the autistic children faced in the acquisition of speech prosody in a non-native tone language, though found, are not more than those they face in their mother tongue. Multilingual exposure may help the autistic children master the use of some focus marking strategies though they still need interventions to help them to implement their focus-marking knowledge more sufficiently in both native and non-native languages.

Background/purpose. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the forms of language avoidance strategies employed by BIPA students. The results are expected to contribute to the development of language avoidance theory in language learning within a multilingual context. Methods. This study uses a qualitative approach to examine the avoidance strategies employed by BIPA students in BI production as an L3. The research participants consisted of six BIPA students from Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Data collection was conducted using elicitation techniques. Eliciting was conducted through casual conversation to elicit natural utterances. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: identification, classification, and interpretation. Results. Based on the research results, there are forms of language avoidance strategies in BI production as L3 in BIPA students, namely topic avoidance, message abandonment, and meaning replacement. These strategies are not entirely passive in the face of linguistic constraints. The use of language fillers has been identified as having a dual role: as a marker of linguistic unpreparedness and as a tool for regulating the conversational rhythm. Conclusion. Based on the results, BIPA students employ three main avoidance strategies in BI production as L3: topic avoidance, message abandonment, and meaning replacement, as a means of adapting to linguistic and non-linguistic limitations. These findings underscore the importance of explicitly teaching compensatory communication strategies in BIPA learning, including training in the effective use of language fillers, so that learners can manage linguistic limitations strategically, adaptively, and communicatively.

In an increasingly globalized world, learning foreign languages (FLs) is essential, particularly in education. Multilingualism is critical due to the multicultural and interconnected nature of societies, yet early third language acquisition (TLA) is not widely adopted in schools. This study investigates how the simultaneous learning of Spanish first language (L1), a second language (L2), and a third language (L3) impacts oral language (OL) development in L1 and whether prior L2 knowledge aids L3 acquisition. The study involved bilingual (L1 + L2) and trilingual (L1 + L2 + L3) learners. Data were collected using the Navarre Oral Language Test-Revised, which evaluates phonological, morphological–syntactic, lexical–semantic, and pragmatic competencies in oral communication. Findings revealed that trilingual learners showed better OL development in L1 compared to bilingual learners. Additionally, prior L2 knowledge facilitated L3 learning, highlighting the benefits of early trilingual education. The study demonstrates that early trilingual learning positively impacts OL development in L1. These results contribute significantly to research on TLA and the advancement of multilingual education.

The first part of this paper reviews research evidence for typological similarity and/or L2 status as determinants of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in multilingual lexical production. The second part presents a model of vocabulary acquisition as a framework to explain CLI at the levels of form, (syntactic) frame, and meaning, as well as some of the developmental changes that have been reported for CLI patterns in relation to L3 learners’ proficiency. It is suggested that these patterns can be related to default processes and stages involved in the acquisition of individual word forms and their integration into networks of existing lexical triads, as described in the Parasitic Model of vocabulary acquisition. The third part of this paper points to research into the complexity and non-linearity of multilingual lexical development and the need to learn more about it.

This study seeks to empirically explore the relation between multilingual learning experiences and language aptitude. Through employing LLAMA aptitude test battery (Meara, 2005) and a probabilistic version of the serial reaction time (SRT) task (Kaufman et al., 2010), scores from 24 Chinese-English bilinguals and 24 Tibetan-Chinese-English trilinguals were analyzed with One-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA). LLAMA-B, E, and F sub-tests measured explicit language aptitude, while LLAMA-D sub-test and SRT task measured implicit language aptitude, a cutting-edge that has gained sway in aptitude research. Qualitative and quantitative results showed that trilingual group performed better on the LLAMA-E sub-test than bilingual group, whereas bilingual group outperformed trilingual group on the SRT task. These findings suggested that trilinguals might possess higher explicit aptitude but lower implicit aptitude than bilinguals. Thus, prior language learning experiences might be positively (for explicit aptitude) or negatively (for implicit aptitude) correlated with language aptitude. Additionally, explicit aptitude and implicit aptitude might have a competitive relationship. Possible implications were discussed in this article.

The present study explored whether emergent bilingual children showed enhanced abilities to learn L3 vocabulary including written, spoken and conceptual forms compared to monolinguals, and the impact of L2/L3 cross-language similarities on such an effect. To this end, we contrasted the English word learning performance of French fifth-graders attending either a monolingual school program or a classroom-immersion program with German as an L2. Half of the items to be learned were German/English (L2/L3) cognate words while the other half were monolingual English (L3) words. Learning was assessed with a forced-choice recognition task, a go/no-go auditive recognition task and an orthographic judgment task. Results yielded a generalized bilingual advantage, with classroom-immersion children outperforming monolinguals on all tasks, irrespective of cognateness, except for the orthographic task. These findings advocate for a bilingual advantage in children that is globally not driven by the specific language properties of cognates, except for the written modality.

Several studies on L3 lexicon, and recently also some on L3 syntax, have convincingly shown a qualitative difference between the acquisition of a true L2 and the subsequent acquisition of an L3. Some studies even indicate that L2 takes on a stronger role than L1 in the initial state of L3 syntax (e.g. Bardel and Falk, 2007; Rothman and Cabrelli Amaro, 2010). In this article we further investigate syntactic transfer from L1/L2 to L3 in learners at an intermediate level of proficiency in the target language. Data have been obtained from 44 learners of German as L3, testing the placement of object pronouns in both main and subordinate clauses in a grammaticality judgement/correction task (GJCT). The learners constitute two groups (both n = 22): One group has English as L1 and French as L2 and the other group has French as L1 and English as L2. This particular combination of background languages allows us to pinpoint the source of transfer, since object placement is pre-verbal in French and post-verbal in English, this being applied in both main and subordinate clauses. In target language (TL) German, however, the object placement varies between pre-verbal in the sub clause and post-verbal in the main clause. The two groups behave differently as to both acceptance and rejection of the test items (60 grammatical and ungrammatical main and sub clauses with object pronouns). This difference is significant and can be ascribed to their L2s, respectively. Our results thus show that the L2 transfers into the L3 even at an intermediate level, and on the basis of this we claim a strong role for the L2 status factor.

This study examines how well Arabic-speaking EFL undergraduate students can understand gender-definite articles in French. Forty students studying French language and literature at the University of Jordan’s Faculty of Foreign Languages were equally divided into two groups based on their French language proficiency level (sophomores and seniors). Having studied English as a foreign language for 12 years, these native Arabic speakers answered 17 multiple-choice questions during a 45-minute test at the University of Jordan. The test required participants to select the correct French masculine or feminine article for each target noun. An introspective session was held after the test to obtain an understanding of their results. A t-test was administered to analyze the data and determine if the differences in participants’ responses within each group were statistically significant. Data analysis revealed that the differences between the two groups’ correct answers on the test were statistically significant in favor of the senior group. In addition, the results show a strong correlation between more exposure to French and improved proficiency, drawing on Rothman’s Typological Primacy Model (2011). Given the closer typological congruence between Arabic and French than between English and French, positive transfer was observed between the two languages. It is suggested that some structural analogies—complex inflectional morphology and gender marking—that are highly aligned in L1 and L3 are the reason behind the learners’ reliance on Arabic. It is argued that, in contrast to the early phases of acquisition, positive transfer becomes more pronounced with increased exposure.

This article elucidates the Typological Primacy Model (TPM; Rothman, 2010, 2011, 2013) for the initial stages of adult third language (L3) morphosyntactic transfer, addressing questions that stem from the model and its application. The TPM maintains that structural proximity between the L3 and the L1 and/or the L2 determines L3 transfer. In addition to demonstrating empirical support for the TPM, this article articulates a proposal for how the mind unconsciously determines typological (structural) proximity based on linguistic cues from the L3 input stream used by the parser early on to determine holistic transfer of one previous (the L1 or the L2) system. This articulated version of the TPM is motivated by argumentation appealing to cognitive and linguistic factors. Finally, in line with the general tenets of the TPM, I ponder if and why L3 transfer might obtain differently depending on the type of bilingual (e.g. early vs. late) and proficiency level of bilingualism involved in the L3 process.

In this paper, I argue in favour of property-by-property transfer in the third language acquisition of English by L1 Arabic and L2 French speakers in Northern Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) based on a reanalysis of previous work. I provide a phonological analysis of their spontaneous production data in the domains of consonants, vowels, stress, and rhythm. The L3 phonology shows evidence of influence from both L1 Arabic and L2 French, with mixed influences found both within and across segmental and prosodic domains. The vowels are French-influenced, while the consonants are Arabic-influenced; the stress is a mixture of Arabic and French influence while the rhythm is French. I argue that these data are explained if we adopt a Contrastive Hierarchy Model of feature structure with the addition of parsing theories such as those proposed by Lightfoot. These data provide further evidence in support of the Westergaard’s Linguistic Proximity Model. I conclude by showing how this approach can allow us to formalize a measure of linguistic I-proximity and thus explain when the L1 or L2 structures will transfer.