Cover not available
Article published In:
A cross-theoretical and cross-linguistic perspective on the L2 acquisition of case systems / L'acquisition de systèmes casuels en L2 : des études à travers plusieurs théories et langues
Edited by Kristof Baten and Saartje Verbeke
[Language, Interaction and Acquisition 11:1] 2020
► pp. 99–129

L2 Spanish clitic pronouns

A dynamic system

| St. Mary’s University, Texas
Spanish clitic pronouns present multiple morphosyntactic and semantic challenges to second language learners. One particular issue is that of case marking, which can be further complicated by variable native input. As a result, a number of factors have been proposed to explain L2 clitics, such as acquisition sequences, classroom input, dialect-specific input, and animacy cues (e.g. Andersen, 1984; Geeslin, García-Amaya, Hasler-Barker, Henriksen, & Killam, 2010; Malovrh, 2008; Malovrh & Lee, 2013; VanPatten, 1990; Zyzik, 2004). This paper uses the Dynamic Systems Theory to describe and explain L2 Spanish clitic development. The multiple social and linguistic variables that interact in clitic production suggest that clitics constitute a dynamic system. The data presented here come from a cross-sectional analysis of four groups of university-level L1 English learners of L2 Spanish, as well as a group of native Spanish speakers, who produced semi-spontaneous narration as well as post-production stimulated recall and interview. The results show a progression that is not always linear in terms of certain levels, learners, and measures. The quantitative and qualitative results reveal various interrelated social, linguistic, and cognitive factors which all play a role in the dynamic system of clitic case development.
Keywords: L2 Spanish, clitic pronouns, Dynamic Systems Theory, developmental variables
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Clitic forms
    • 2.2Clitic functions
    • 2.3Clitics in L2 Spanish
    • 2.4Dynamic Systems Theory
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Procedure
    • 3.3Analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Total clitics
    • 4.2Clitic form and function
    • 4.3Speaker examples and comments
      • 4.3.1Non-linearity
      • 4.3.2Preferred/dispreferred clitic uses
      • 4.3.3The social context
      • 4.3.4Learners without clitics
  • 5.DST and L2 clitics
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.00009.pea
References (48)
References
Andersen, R. W. (1984). The one to one principle of interlanguage construction. Language Learning, 34(4), 77–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Caspi, T. (2010). A dynamic perspective on second language development. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Groeningen, Groeningen.Google Scholar
Cuervo, M. C. (2007). Double objects in Spanish as a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 291, 583–615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K., Lowie, W., Thorne, S. L., & Verspoor, M. (2013). Dynamic systems theory as a comprehensive theory of second language development. In M. Mayo, M. Gutierrez-Mangado, & M. Adrián (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to second language acquisition (199–220). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(1), 7–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escobar-Álvarez, M. A. (2017). L2 acquisition of Spanish dative clitics by English and Dutch learners. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7(3), 517–534. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escobar, L., & Teomiro, I. (2016). The gradual acquisition of clitic “se” in Spanish L2. Topics in Linguistics, 17(1), 17–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escutia López, M. (2016). L2 Spanish preverbal ‘se’ in analysis and production data. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, 29(1), 30–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández-Ordóñez, I. (1994). Isoglosas internas del castellano. El sistema referencial del pronombre átono de tercera persona. Revista de Filología Española, 74(1/2), 71–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Feryok, A. (2010). Language teacher cognitions: Complex dynamic systems? System, 38(2), 272–279. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Franceschina, F. (2001). Morphological or syntactic deficits in near-native speakers? An assessment of some current proposals. Second Language Research, 171, 213–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L., García-Amaya, L. J., Hasler-Barker, M., Henriksen, N. C., & Killam, J. (2010). The SLA of direct object pronouns in a study abroad immersion environment where use is variable. In C. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 12th Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 246–259). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Gutiérrez, M. J., & Silva-Corvalán, C. (1993). Spanish clitics in a contact situation. In A. Roca & J. M. Lipski (Eds.), Spanish in the United States: Linguistic contact and diversity (pp. 75–90). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, H. (2003). Using nouns for reference maintenance: A seeming contradiction in L2 discourse. In A. Giacalone Ramat (Ed.), Typology and second language acquisition (pp. 291–326). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Hernández, J. E. (1997). La retención clítica y la duplicación acusativa nominal del español mexicano-americano en Houston, Texas ante una situación de contacto. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Houston, Houston.Google Scholar
Klee, C. A. (1989). The acquisition of clitic pronouns in the Spanish interlanguage of Quechua speakers. Hispania, 72(2), 402–408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1990). Spanish-Quechua language contact: The clitic pronoun system in Andean Spanish. Word, 411, 35–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klee, C. A., & Caravedo, R. (2005). Contact-induced language change in Lima, Peru: The case of clitic pronouns. In D. Eddington (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the 7th Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 12–21). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Klein-Andreu, F. (2000). Variación actual y evolución histórica: Los clíticos le/s, la/s, lo/s. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
Koike, D. A., & Klee, C. A. (2013). Lingüística aplicada: Adquisición del español como segunda lengua. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Landa, A. (1993). Conditions of null objects in Basque Spanish and their relation to Leísmo and clitic doubling. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 590–619. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. F. (2003). Cognitive and linguistic perspectives on the acquisition of object pronouns in Spanish as a second language. In B. Lafford & R. Salaberry (Eds.), Spanish second language acquisition: State of the science (pp. 98–129). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Malovrh, P. A. (2006). L2 sentence processing of Spanish OVS word order and direct object pronouns: An analysis of contextual constraints. In N. Sagarra & A. J. Toribio (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 9th Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 169–179). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
(2008). A multifaceted analysis of the interlanguage development of Spanish direct-object clitic pronouns observed in L2-learner production. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
(2013). Object pronouns in second language Spanish. In K. L. Geeslin (Ed.), The handbook of Spanish second language acquisition (pp. 185–201). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014). Variability and systematicity in interlanguage development: An analysis of mode and its effect on L2 Spanish morphology. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 7(1), 43–78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Malovrh, P. A., & Lee, J. F. (2010). Connections between processing, production and placement: Acquiring object pronouns in Spanish as a second language. In B. VanPatten & J. Jegerski (Eds.), Second language processing and parsing (231–256). Amsterdam: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). The developmental dimension in instructed second language learning: The L2 acquisition of object pronouns in Spanish. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
McCarthy, C. (2008). Morphological variability in the comprehension of agreement: An argument for representation over computation. Second Language Research, 24(4), 459–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S. (2004). Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers: A case of morphosyntactic convergence. Bilingualism, 7(2), 125–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010). How similar are L2 learners and heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order. Applied Psycholinguistics, 311, 167–207. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Dias, R., & Santos, H. (2010). Clitics and object expression in the L3 acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese: Structural similarity matters for transfer. Second Language Research, 27(1), 21–58. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mrak, N. A. (2003). Clitic simplification in a contact variety of Spanish. An empirical study. In R. Núñez-Cedeño, L. López, & R. Cameron (Eds.), A Romance perspective on language knowledge and use (pp. 181–194). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peace, M. M. (2015). Other-orientation in non-native Spanish and its effects on the direct object. Foreign Language Annals, 48(4), 669–687. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019). Noticing without negotiation? What L2 Spanish learners report hearing in peer-produced language. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, Advanced online publication. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Polat, B., & Kim, Y. (2014). Dynamics of complexity and accuracy: A longitudinal case study of advanced untutored development. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), 184–207. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwenter, S. A. (2006). Null objects across South America. In T. L. Face & C. A. Klee (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 8th Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 23–36). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Tarone, E., & Liu, G-Q. (1995). Situational context, variation, and second language acquisition theory. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics (pp. 107–124). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Torrego, E. (2010). Variability in the case patterns of causative formation in Romance and its implications. Linguistic Inquiry, 41(3), 445–470. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verspoor, M., Lowie, W., & van Dijk, M. (2008). Variability in second language development from a dynamic systems perspective. The Modern Language Journal, 921, 214–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verspoor, M., Schmid, M. S., & Xu, X. (2012). A dynamic usage based perspective on L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 211, 239–263. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1990). The acquisition of clitic pronouns in Spanish: Two case studies. In B. VanPatten & J. F. Lee (Eds.), Second language acquisition – Foreign language learning (pp. 118–139). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
VanPatten, B., & Sanz, C. (1995). From input to output: Processing instruction and communicative tasks. In F. R. Eckman, D. Highland, P. W. Lee, J. Mileham, & R. R. Weber (Eds.), Second language acquisition theory and pedagogy (pp. 169–185). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Yule, G. (1997). Referencial communication tasks. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Zyzik, E. (2004). Encoding meaning with polyfunctional forms: The acquisition of clitics in L2 Spanish. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of California, Davis.Google Scholar
(2006). Learners’ overgeneralization of dative clitics to accusative contexts: Evidence for prototype effects in SLA. In C. A. Klee & T. L. Face (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages (122–134). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

García-Tejada, Aída
2024. Direct object anaphora resolution in L1 English-L2 Spanish. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 37:2 ► pp. 591 ff. DOI logo
Gupton, Timothy & Brian Gravely
2024. What Formal Approaches to Syntactic Interfaces Can Tell Us about the Syntax of Preverbal and Prenominal Constituents in Galician. Languages 9:8 ► pp. 267 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 august 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.