Chapter published in:
Second Language Acquisition Theory: The legacy of Professor Michael H. Long
Edited by Alessandro G. Benati and John W. Schwieter
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 14] 2022
► pp. 143–176

Chapter 8
A calculus for L1 transfer

| University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

The phenomenon of transfer plays a prominent role, either explicitly or implicitly, in most approaches to SLA, including Focus on Form and the Interaction Hypothesis – to name two lines of inquiry that lay at the heart of Mike Long’s scholarship. The central thesis of this chapter is that transfer is best seen as a processing-driven strategy: L2 learners transfer operations from their L1 to the L2, unless those operations are more costly in the L2 than in the L1. Much of the chapter is devoted to the application of this idea to phenomena that arise when adult native speakers of English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Catalan go about acquiring a second or third language, producing transfer effects that have been difficult to accommodate in traditional approaches to cross-linguistic influence.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A brief overview
    • 2.1Linguistic emergentism
    • 2.2Transfer and processing cost
  • 3.Verb deletion in English and Japanese
    • 3.1English-speaking learners of Japanese
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 3.2Japanese-speaking learners of English
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 3.3Implications
  • 4.The interpretation of quantified NPs in English and Korean
    • 4.1English-speaking learners of Korean
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 4.2Korean-speaking learners of English
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 4.3Implications
  • 5.The interpretation of indefinite NPs in English and Japanese
    • 5.1The phenomenon
    • 5.2The interpretation of dareka by native speakers of English
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 5.3Implications
    • 5.4The Weakness Corollary
  • 6.The interpretation of null arguments in Japanese and Chinese
    • 6.1The phenomenon
    • 6.2The interpretation of Chinese pro by native speakers of Japanese
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 6.3Implications
  • 7.A note on third language acquisition
    • 7.1The phenomenon
    • 7.2The acquisition of English negation by Catalan and Spanish bilinguals
      • Participants
      • Method and materials
      • Results
    • 7.3Implications
  • 8.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 August 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.14.08ogr
References
Algady, D.
(2013) The acquisition of relative clauses: How do adult second language learners of Arabic do it? (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Alosaimi, N.
(2021) An empirical study of resumptive pronouns in Arabs’ acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses. International Journal of English Language and Lingusitics Research, 9 (2), 8–31.Google Scholar
Alroudhan, H. E., & Ibn Saud, A. M.
(2016) The acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by Arab adults EFL learners. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7 (1), 33–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anderson, C.
(2004) The structure and real-time comprehension of quantifier scope ambiguity (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Northwestern University.
Bates, E., & MacWhinney, B.
(1987) Competition, variation and language learning. In B. MacWhinney (Ed.), Mechanisms of language acquisition (pp. 157–193). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Birdsong, D.
(2006) Age and second language acquisition and processing: A selective overview. Language Learning, 56 (s1), 9–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clifton, C., & Frazier, L.
(1989) Comprehending sentences with long-distance dependencies. In G. Carlson & M. Tanenhaus (Eds.), Linguistic structure in language processing (pp. 273–317). Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dépres, V., Tubau, S., Cheylus, A., & Espinal, M. T.
(2015) Double negation in a negative concord language: An experimental investigation. Lingua, 163 , 75–107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doughty, C.
(1991) Second language instruction does make a difference: Evidence from an empirical study of SL relativization. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13 , 431–469. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eckman, F.
(2010) Linguistic typology and second language acquisition. In J. J. Sung (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of linguistic typology (pp. 485–494). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Filopović, L., & Hawkins, J.
(2013) Multiple factors in second language acquisition: The CASP model. Linguistics, 51 , 145–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gass, S., Plonsky, L., & Huntley, L.
(2022) Taking the Long view: A bibliometric analysis. In A. G. Benati & J. Schwieter (Eds.), Second language acquisition theory: The legacy of professor Michael Long.Google Scholar
Han, C., Lidz, J., & Musolino, J.
(2007) V-raising and grammar competition in Korean: Evidence from negation and quantifier scope. Linguistic Inquiry, 38 , 1–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J.
(2004) Efficiency and complexity in grammar. Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Acquisition of relative clauses in relation to language universal. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29 , 337–344. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Cross-linguistic variation and efficiency. Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hofmeister, P., & Sag, I.
(2010) Cognitive constraints and island effects. Language, 86 , 366–415. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hwang, H.
(2020) A contrast between VP-ellipsis and gapping in English: L1 acquisition, L2 acquisition, and L2 processing (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Department of Second Language Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Keenan, E.
(1974) The functional principle: Generalizing the notion of ‘subject of.’ In M. W. La Galy, R. A. Fox, & A. Bruck (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society (pp. 298–309). CLS.Google Scholar
(1976) Towards a universal definition of ‘subject’. In C. Li (Ed.), Subject and topic (pp. 303–33). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Keenan, E., & Comrie, B.
(1977) Noun phrase accessibility and Universal Grammar. Linguistic Inquiry, 8 , 63–100.Google Scholar
Lee, S.
(2009) Interpreting scope ambiguity in first and second language processing: Universal quantifiers and negation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
MacWhinney, B.
(2005) A unified model of language acquisition. In J. Kroll & A. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 49–67). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2008) A unified model. In N. Ellis & P. Robinson (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition (pp. 341–370). Routledge.Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B. & O’Grady, W.
(Eds.) (2015) The handbook of language emergence. Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marsden, H.
(2005) Quantifier scope in non-native Japanese: A comparative interlanguage study of Chinese-, English- and Korean-speaking learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Durham University.
McDonald, J.
(2006) Beyond the critical period: Processing-based explanations for poor grammaticality judgment performance by late second language learners. Journal of Memory and Language, 44 , 381–401. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Monou, T.
(2013) Restrictive second language development paths: Evidence from subject ellipsis constructions in Japanese and Mandarin (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Graduate School of Human Relations, Keio University.
Musolino, J. & Lidz, J.
(2006) Why children aren’t universally successful with quantification. Linguistics, 44 , 817–852. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Musolino, J., Crain, S., & Thornton, R.
(2000) Navigating negative quantificational space. Linguistics, 38 , 1–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Grady, W.
(1999) Gapping and coordination in second language acquisition. In K. Kanno (Ed.), The acquisition of Japanese as a second language (pp. 141–157). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2005) Syntactic carpentry: An emergentist approach to syntax. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Language acquisition without an acquisition device. Invited plenary talk to the Second Language Research Forum. October 2010, University of Maryland.
(2012) Language acquisition without an acquisition device. Language Teaching, 45 , 116–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) The illusion of language acquisition. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3 , 253–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) Anaphora and the case for emergentism. In B. MacWhinney & W. O’Grady (Eds.), The handbook of language emergence (pp. 100–122). Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021) Natural syntax: An emergentist primer (2nd ed.). Retrieved on 8 February 2022 from http://​ling​.hawaii​.edu​/wp​-content​/uploads​/OGrady​-Natural​-Syntax​-2ndEd​-2021​.pdf
O’Grady, W., Kwak, H.-Y., Lee, O., & Lee, M.
(2011) An emergentist perspective on partial language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33 , 223–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Grady, W., Lee, M., & Kwak, H.-Y.
(2009) Emergentism and second language acquisition. In W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia (Eds.), The new handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 69–88). Emerald Press.Google Scholar
Palmer, H.
(1917) The scientific study & teaching of languages. George Harrap & Co.Google Scholar
Petronio, K., & Lillo-Martin, D.
(1997) Wh-movement and the position of Spec-CP: Evidence from American Sign Language. Language, 73 , 18–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M.
(2015) An outline of Processability Theory and its relationship to other approaches to SLA. Language Learning, 65 , 123–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M., Di Biase, B., & Kawaguchi, S.
(2005a) Extending Processability Theory. In M. Pienemann (Ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory (pp. 199–251). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M., Di Biase, B., Kawaguchi, S., & Hakansson, G.
(2005b) Processing constraints on L1 transfer. In J. Kroll & A. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 128–153). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Puig-Mayenco, E., & Rothman, J.
(2020) Low proficiency does not mean ab initio: A methodological footnote for linguistic transfer studies. Language Acquisition, 27, 217–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Puig-Mayenco, E. & Marsden, H.
(2018) Polarity-item anything in L3 English: Where does transfer come from when the L1 is Catalan and the L2 is Spanish? Second Language Research, 34 , 487–515. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Puig-Mayenco, E., Alonso González, J., & Rothman, J.
(2020) A systematic review of transfer studies in third language acquisition. Second Language Research, 36 , 31–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reinhart, T.
(1997) Quantifier scope: How labor is divided between QR and choice functions. Linguistics and Philosophy, 20 , 335–397. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J.
(2015) Linguistic and cognitive motivations for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of third language (L3) transfer: Timing of acquisition and proficiency considered. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 , 179–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J., González Alonso, J., & Puig-Mayenco, E.
(2019) Third language acquisition and linguistic transfer. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B., & Sprouse, R.
(2021a) Making models, making predictions. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 11 , 116–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021b) The Full Transfer/Full Access model of L3 cognitive states. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 11 , 1–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R., Leal, T., Dudley, A. & Stack, M.
(2020) Generative second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wagers, M., & Phillips, C.
(2009) Multiple dependencies and the role of the grammar in real-time comprehension. Journal of Linguistics, 45 , 395–433. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xu, Yi
(2014) Evidence of the accessibility hierarchy in relative clauses in Chinese as a second language. Language and Linguistics, 15 , 435–464.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Sadeghi, Karim
2022. Emergentist Syntax and SLA: An Interview with William O’Grady. In Talking About Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 123 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 january 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.