Cover not available
Part of
Foreign Language Education in Multilingual Classrooms
Edited by Andreas Bonnet and Peter Siemund
[Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity 7] 2018
► pp. 305–330

L1 effects in the early L3 acquisition of vocabulary and grammar

 | University of Braunschweig, Germany
 | University of Mannheim, Germany
 | University of Mannheim, Germany
 | University of Mannheim, Germany
This chapter explores cross-linguistic influences in the lexical and grammatical acquisition of L3 English among child L2 learners of German with a variety of L1 backgrounds. For lexical development, we find interrelations in vocabulary size between L1, L2 and English lexicons. For grammar, a sentence repetition task does not show any differences between learner groups. Instead, all learners transfer German word order to English, irrespective of the properties of the L1 grammar. We discuss these findings in the context of current formal approaches to transfer in L3 acquisition and sketch some implications for foreign language teaching in a multilingual classroom.
Keywords: cross-linguistic influence, grammar, heritage speakers, third language acquisition, young learners, vocabulary
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Cross-linguistic interactions in multilingual acquisition
    • 2.1The multilingual lexicon
      • 2.1.1Vocabulary size
      • 2.1.2Non-selective lexical access
      • 2.1.3Cross-linguistic lexical influence
    • 2.2Grammatical transfer in child and adult L3 learners
  • 3.Research question and hypotheses
  • 4.The present study
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Materials and methods
    • 4.3Control variables
    • 4.4Procedure
    • 4.5Analysis
    • 4.6Results
      • 4.6.1Group comparisons
      • 4.6.2English vocabulary
      • 4.6.3English grammar
  • 5.Discussion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 24 October 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hsld.7.14hop
References (78)
References
Bardel, C. & Falk, Y. 2007. The role of the second language in third language acquisition: The case of Germanic syntax. Second Language Research 23(4): 459–484. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012. The L2 status factor and the declarative/procedural distinction. In Third Language Acquisition in Adulthood [Studies in Bilingualism 46], J. Cabrelli Amaro, S. Flynn & J. Rothman (eds), 61–78. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bardel, C. & Lindqvist, C. 2007. The role of proficiency and psychotypology in lexical cross-linguistic influence. A study of a multilingual learner of Italian L3. In Atti del 6° congresso internazionale dell'Associazione Italiana di Linguistica Applicata: Imparare una lingua: Recenti sviluppi teorici e proposte applicative. Napoli, 9–10 febbraio 2006. [Pubblicazioni della Associazione Italiana di Linguistica Applicata 5], 123–145. Perugia: Guerra.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Luk, G. Peets, K. F. & Yang, S. 2010. Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 13(4): 525–531. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bohnacker, U. 2006. When Swedes begin to learn German: From V2 to V2. Second Language Research 22(4): 443–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brenders, P., Van Hell, J. G. & Dijkstra, T. 2011. Word recognition in child second language learners: Evidence from cognates and false friends. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 109(4): 383–396. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cabrelli Amaro, J. 2016. The role of prosodic structure in the L2 acquisition of Spanish stop lenition. Second Language Research 33(2): 233–269.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J. 2001. The effect of linguistic distance, L2 status and age on cross- linguistic influence in third language acquisition. In Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (eds), 8–20. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2003. The additive effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition: A review. International Journal of Bilingualism 7(1): 71–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, G. 2005. Interlanguage transfer of function words. Language Learning 55(3): 379–414. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007. Third or Additional Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
De Houwer, A. 2009. Bilingual First Language Acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
De Houwer, A., Bornstein, M. H. & Putnick, D. L. 2014. A bilingual–monolingual comparison of young children's vocabulary size: Evidence from comprehension and production. Applied Psycholinguistics 35(6): 1189–1211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Delis, D. C., Kaplan E. & Kramer, J. H. 2001. Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). San Antonio TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Dewaele, J. -M.. 1998. Lexical inventions: French interlanguage as L2 versus L3. Applied Linguistics 19(4): 471–490. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T. 2005. Bilingual word recognition and lexical access. In Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches, J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (eds), 179–201.Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Döpke, S. 1998. Competing language structures: The acquisition of verb placement by bilingual German-English children. Journal of Child Language 25(3): 555–584. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dryer, M. S. & Haspelmath, M. (eds). 2013. The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. <[URL]> (28 April 2017).Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., Dunn, D. M., Styles, B. & Sewell, J. 2009. British Picture Vocabulary Scale: BPVS-III. London: GL Assessment.Google Scholar
Ecke, P. 2015. Parasitic vocabulary acquisition, cross-linguistic influence, and lexical retrieval in multilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 18(2): 145–162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Falk, Y. & Bardel, C. 2011. Object pronouns in German L3 syntax: Evidence for the L2 status factor. Second Language Research 27(1): 59–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flynn, S., Foley, C. & Vinnitskaya, I. 2004. The cumulative-enhancement model for language acquisition: Comparing adults’ and children's patterns of development in first, second and third language acquisition of relative clauses. International Journal of Multilingualism 1(1): 3–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frenck-Mestre, C. & Pynte, J. 1997. Syntactic ambiguity resolution while reading in second and native languages. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A 50(1): 119–148. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ganzeboom, H. B., de Graaf, P. M. & Treiman, D. J. 1992. A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status. Social Science Research 21(1): 1–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Thomas, E. M., Roberts, E., Hughes, C. & Hughes, E. 2013. Why assessment needs to take exposure into account: Vocabulary and grammatical abilities in bilingual children. In Issues in the Assessment of Bilinguals, V. C. Mueller-Gathercole (ed.), 20–55. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
González Alonso, J. & Rothman, J. 2016. Coming of age in L3 initial stages transfer models: Deriving developmental predictions and looking towards the future. International Journal of Bilingualism. DOI logo.Google Scholar
González Alonso, J., Rothman, J., Berndt, D., Castro, T., & Westergaard, M. 2016. Broad scope and narrow focus: On the contemporary linguistic and psycholinguistic study of third language acquisition. International Journal of Bilingualism 21(6): 639–650.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goral, M., Levy, E. S., Obler, L. K. & Cohen, E. 2006. Cross-language lexical connections in the mental lexicon: Evidence from a case of trilingual aphasia. Brain and Language 98(2): 235–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haberzettl, S. 2005. Der Erwerb der Verbstellungsregeln in der Zweitsprache Deutsch durch Kinder mit russischer und türkischer Muttersprache. Tübingen: Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hall, C. J. & Ecke, P. 2003. Parasitism as a default mechanism in L3 vocabulary acquisition. In The Multilingual Lexicon, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (eds), 71–85. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haznedar, B. 1997. Child Second Language Acquisition of English: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Turkish-speaking Child. PhD dissertation, University of Durham.Google Scholar
Hermas, A. 2010. Language acquisition as computational resetting: Verb movement in L3 initial state. International Journal of Multilingualism 7(4): 343–362. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Senor, M. & Parra, M. 2012. Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language 39(1): 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopp, H. 2016. Learning (not) to predict: Grammatical gender processing in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 32(2): 277–307.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jaensch, C. 2009. Article choice and article omission in the L3 German of native speakers of Japanese with L2 English. In Second Language Acquisition of Articles Empirical Findings and Theoretical Implications [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 49], M. del P. García Mayo & R. Hawkins (eds), 233–263. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, S. 2000. Methodological rigor in the study of transfer: Identifying L1 influence in the interlanguage lexicon. Language Learning 50(2): 245–309. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016. The scope of transfer research. In New Perspectives on Transfer in Second Language Learning, L. Yu & T. Odlin (eds), 17–47. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Jin, F. 2009. Third language acquisition of Norwegian objects: Interlanguage transfer or L1 influence? In Third Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar, Y. -k. I. Leung (ed.), 144–161. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kaltenbacher, M. 2001. Universal Grammar and Parameter Resetting in Second Language Acquisition. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Lemhöfer, K., Dijkstra, T. & Michel, M. 2004. Three languages, one ECHO: Cognate effects in trilingual word recognition. Language and Cognitive Processes 19(5): 585–611. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lemmerth, N. & Hopp, H. Submitted. Gender processing in simultaneous and successive bilingual children: Effects of lexical and syntactic cross-linguistic influence. Ms, Universitiy of Braunschweig and University of Mannheim.
Lenzing, A. 2013. The Development of the Grammatical System in Early Second Language Acquisition: The Multiple Constraints Hypothesis [Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching 3]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Mancilla-Martinzez, J., Pan, B. A. & Vagh, S. B. 2011. Assessing the productive vocabulary of Spanish–English bilingual toddlers from low-income families. Applied Psycholinguistics 32(2): 333–357. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marchman, V. A., Fernald, A. & Hurtado, N. 2010. How vocabulary size in two languages relates to efficiency in spoken word recognition by young Spanish-English bilinguals. Journal of Child Language 37(4): 817–840. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marchman, V. A. & Martínez-Sussman C. 2002. Concurrent validity of caregiver/parent report measures of language for children who are learning both English and Spanish. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 45: 983–997. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marinis, T. & Armon-Lotem, S. 2015. Sentence repetition. In Assessing Multilingual Children: Disentangling Bilingualism from Language Impairment, S. Armon-Lotem (ed.), 95–124. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Molnar, T. 2010. Cognate recognition and L3 vocabulary acquisition. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 2(2): 337–349.Google Scholar
Na Ranong, S. & Leung, Y-k. I. 2009. Null objects in L1 Thai-L2 English-L3 Chinese: An empirical take on a theoretical problem. In Third Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar, Y-k. I. Leung (ed.), 162–191. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Özdemir, B. 2006. Bilinguale Kinder im Englischunterricht. In Englischerwerb in der Grundschule: Ein Studien- und Arbeitsbuch, M. Pienemann, J-U. Keßler & E. Roos (eds), 110–121. Paderborn: Schöningh.Google Scholar
Pearson, B. Z., Fernandez, S. C., Lewedeg, V. & Kimbrough Oller, D. 1997. The relation of input factors to lexical learning by bilingual infants. Applied Psycholinguistics 18(1): 41–58. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Petermann, F. & Petermann, U. 2008. HAWIK-IV. Kindheit und Entwicklung 17: 71–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M. 1998. Language Processing and Second Language Development: Processability Theory [Studies in Bilingualism 15]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Poarch, G. J. & Van Hell, J. G. 2012. Cross-language activation in children’s speech production: Evidence from second language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 111(3): 419–438. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ringbom, H. 2001. Lexical transfer in L3 production. In Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Aquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (eds), 59–68. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rothman, J., Cabrelli Amaro, J. & de Bot, K. 2013. Third language acquisition. In The Cambridge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, J. R. Herschensohn & M. Young-Scholten (eds), 372–393. Cambridge: CUP. 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(02): 179–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sağin-Şimşek, Ç. 2006. Third Language Acquisition: Turkish-German Bilingual Students‘ Acquisition of English Word Order in a German Educational Setting. Münster: Waxmann.Google Scholar
Sánchez, L. 2011. Luisa and Pedrito’s dog will the breakfast eat: Interlanguage transfer and the role of the second language factor. In New Trends in Crosslinguistic Influence and Multilingualism Research, G. D. Angelis & J -M. Dewaele (eds), 86–104. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2015. L2 activation and blending in third language acquisition: Evidence of crosslinguistic influence from the L2 in a longitudinal study on the acquisition of L3 English. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 18(2): 252–269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sánchez, L. & Bardel, C. 2017. Transfer from an L2 in third language learning: A study on L2 proficiency. In L3 Syntactic Transfer. Models, New Developments and Implications, [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 5], T. Angelovska & A. Hahn (eds), 223–250. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, R. 1993. Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 13: 206–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schneider, W., Eschman, A. & Zuccolotto, A. 2002. E-Prime user's guide. Pittsburg PA: Psychology Software Tools.Google Scholar
Serratrice, L.. 2013. Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual development. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 3(1): 3–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Simon, J. R. 1969. Reactions towards the source of stimulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 174–176.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. 2016. The scalpel model of third language acquisition. International Journal of Bilingualism. 21(6): 639–650.Google Scholar
Szabo, C. 2016. Exploring the mental lexicon of the multilingual: Vocabulary size, cognate recognition and lexical access in the L1, L2 and L3. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 2(2): 1–25.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tracy, R. & Gawlitzek-Maiwald, I. 2005. The strength of the weak: Asynchronies in the simultaneous acquisition of German and English. Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik 35(3): 28–53.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ullman, M. T. 2005. A cognitive neuroscience perspective on second language acquisition: The declarative/procedural model. In Mind and Context in Adult Second Language Acquisition: Methods, Theory and Practice, S. Sanz (ed.), 141–178. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Unsworth, S. 2013. Current issues in multilingual first language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 3: 21–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Hell, J. G. & Tanner, D. 2012. Second language proficiency and cross-language lexical activation. Language Learning 62: 148–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Hout, R., Hulk, A., Kuiken, F. & Towell, R. 2003. The Lexicon-syntax Interface in Second Language Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 30]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Von Holzen, K. & Mani, N., 2012. Language nonselective lexical access in bilingual toddlers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 113(4): 569–586. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wanders, A. 2006. Die Rolle des Transfers. In Englischerwerb in der Grundschule: Ein Studien- und Arbeitsbuch, M. Pienemann, J. -U. Keßler & E. Roos (eds), 97–109. Paderborn: Schöningh.Google Scholar
Weber, J., Marx, P. & Schneider, W. 2007. Die Prävention von Lese-Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten bei Kindern mit nichtdeutscher Herkunftssprache durch ein Training der phonologischen Bewusstheit. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie 21: 65–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weigl, W. 1999. Die Verbposition im Englisch deutscher Gymnasiasten (Verb position in the English of German ‘Gymnasium’ students). Beitraege zur Fremsprachenvermittlung 36: 25–41.Google Scholar
Weiß, R. 2006. CFT 20-R. Grundintelligenztest Skala 2, Manual. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Westergaard, M., Mitrofanova, N., Mykhaylyk, R. & Rodina, Y. 2016. Crosslinguistic influence in the acquisition of a third language: The Linguistic Proximity Model. International Journal of Bilingualism 21(6): 666–682.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, S. & Hammarberg, B. 1998. Language switches in L3 production: Implications for a Polyglot Speaking Model. Applied Linguistics 19(3): 295–333. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (8)

Cited by eight other publications

Otwinowska, Agnieszka
2024. Cross-linguistic influence and language co-activation in acquiring L3 words: What empirical evidence do we have so far?. Second Language Research 40:3 ► pp. 765 ff. DOI logo
Siemund, Peter & Eliane Lorenz
2024. Chapter 5. Multilingual advantages. In Multifaceted Multilingualism [Studies in Bilingualism, 66], ► pp. 123 ff. DOI logo
Walla, Dianna
2024. Assessing knowledge of English verb placement and subject-verb agreement among multilingual students in grades 5–7 in Norway. Pedagogical Linguistics 5:2 ► pp. 162 ff. DOI logo
Gyllstad, Henrik, Pia Sundqvist, Erica Sandlund & Marie Källkvist
2023. Effects of Word Definitions on Meaning Recall: A Multisite Intervention in Language‐Diverse Second Language English Classrooms. Language Learning 73:2 ► pp. 403 ff. DOI logo
Cenoz, Jasone & Durk Gorter
2022. Enhancing bilingual resources in third language acquisition: towards pedagogical translanguaging. Educational Linguistics 1:2 ► pp. 338 ff. DOI logo
Källkvist, Marie, Henrik Gyllstad, Erica Sandlund & Pia Sundqvist
2022. Towards an In-Depth Understanding of English-Swedish Translanguaging Pedagogy in Multilingual EFL Classrooms. HumaNetten :48 ► pp. 138 ff. DOI logo
Hopp, Holger
2019. Cross-linguistic influence in the child third language acquisition of grammar: Sentence comprehension and production among Turkish-German and German learners of English. International Journal of Bilingualism 23:2 ► pp. 567 ff. DOI logo
Siemund, Peter
2018. Modeling World Englishes from a cross-linguistic perspective. In Modeling World Englishes [Varieties of English Around the World, G61], ► pp. 133 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 17 october 2024. 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.