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Sound, Syntax and Contact in the Languages of Asturias
Edited by Guillermo Lorenzo
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 36] 2022
► pp. 195–216

Chapter 10
Minority language bilingualism and its role in L3 lexical acquisition

The case of Asturian

| Drew University

This chapter focuses on the interplay between working memory, lexical capacity, and (self-rated) proficiency in three groups of speakers: monolingual (Spanish), bilingual (Spanish and English), and trilingual (Spanish, English, and Asturian). There is ample debate on the cognitive and lexical (dis)advantages that bilingualism can grant, and on its impact on third language learning. In this chapter, we argue for a cognitive advantage of any type of bilingualism in accuracy in a Luck and Vogel task, and an advantage of simultaneous bilingualism in reaction times. Additionally, we find no evidence for a disadvantage in lexical retrieval for simultaneous bilinguals.

Keywords: trilingualism, bilingualism, working memory, Verbal Fluency, diglossia
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Bilingual advantages
    • 1.2Lexical fluency
    • 1.3Minority language L3 acquisition
    • 1.4Bilingualism and diglossia in Asturies
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Research questions and hypotheses
    • 2.2Participants
      • 2.2.1Monolingual speakers
      • 2.2.2Bilingual speakers
      • 2.2.3Trilingual speakers
    • 2.3Bilingual language profile (BLP)
    • 2.4Experimental tasks: Procedures & analysis
      • 2.4.1Luck and Vogel task
      • 2.4.2Lexical fluency task
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1L&V task
    • 3.2Lexical fluency
    • 3.3Bilingual language profile
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 1 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.36.10tur
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