Cover not available
Part of
Teachability and Learnability across Languages
Edited by Ragnar Arntzen, Gisela Håkansson, Arnstein Hjelde and Jörg-U. Keßler
[Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching 6] 2019
► pp. 119–136

Chapter 6
Elicited imitation as a diagnostic tool of morpho-syntactic processing

| University of Bergamo

This chapter evaluates the Elicited Imitation (EI) test as a tool to assess learners’ morpho-syntactic processing abilities. Within the VILLA project, the treatment of the nominative/accusative opposition by 17 Italian L1 initial learners of Polish L2 is observed on the one hand in an EI test paired with a comprehension test and on the other hand in free production. The EI test regularly elicits more accurate output than free production. We argue that this is not because learners simply repeat strings of sounds with no underlying processing but because of the lower communicative pressure exerted by the structured task. Although EI is not equivalent to spontaneous production, it may well represent a good compromise between ecological validity and practicality.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Input and participants
    • 2.2Structured tests
    • 2.3Spontaneous production
  • 3.Research questions, rationale and hypotheses
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/palart.6.06sat
References
Artoni, D. & Magnani, M.
2015 Acquiring case marking in Russian as a second language: An exploratory study on subject and object. In Grammatical Development in Second Languages: Exploring the Boundaries of Processability Theory [Eurosla Monograph Series 3], C. Bettoni & B. Di Biase (eds), 177–193. Paris: Eurosla.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A.
2003 Working memory and language: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders 36: 189–208. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baten, K.
2011 Processability Theory and German case acquisition. Language Learning 61(2): 455–505. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners. [Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching 2]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brugman, H. & Russell, A.
2004 Annotating multimedia/multi-modal resources with ELAN. In Proceedings of LREC 2004, Fourth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, M. Lino, M. Xavier, F. Ferreira, R. Costa & R. Silva (eds), 2065–2068. Paris: ELRA.Google Scholar
Di Biase, B. & Kawaguchi, S.
2002 Exploring the typological plausibility of Processability Theory: Language development in Italian second language and Japanese second language. Second Language Research 18(3): 274–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Di Biase, B., Bettoni, C. & Medojević, L.
2015 The development of case: a study of Serbian in contact with Australian English. In Grammatical development in second languages: Exploring the boundaries of Processability Theory, C. Bettoni & B. Di Biase (eds), 195–212. Amsterdam: The European Second Language Association.Google Scholar
Dimroth, C., Rast, R., Starren, M. & Watorek, M.
2013 Methods for studying the learning of a new language under controlled input conditions: The VILLA project. Eurosla Yearbook 13: 109–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dryer, M.
2013a Determining dominant word order. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, M. Dryer & M. Haspelmath (eds). Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL]
2013b Order of subject, object and verb. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, M. Dryer & M. Haspelmath (eds). Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL]
Ellis, R.
2005 Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27(2): 141–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Erlam, R.
2006 Elicited imitation as a measure of L2 implicit knowledge: An empirical validation study. Applied Linguistics 27(3): 464–491. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klein, W. & Perdue, C.
1997 The basic variety (or: Couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research 13(4): 301–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. & Zhang, X.
2015 Response to Pienemann’s critique of Zhang and Lantolf (2015). Language Learning 65(3): 752–760. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacWhinney, B.
2000 The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk, 3e edn. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Pienemann, M.
1984 Psychological constraints on the teachability of languages. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 6(2): 186–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1998 Language Processing and Second Language Development: Processability Theory [Studies in Bilingualism 15]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M., Keßler, J. & Lenzing, A.
2013 Developmentally moderated transfer and the role of the L2 in L3 acquisition. In Language Acquisition and Use in Multilingual Contexts: Theory and Practice, A. Flyman Mattsson & C. Norrby (eds), 142–159. Lund: Travaux de l’Institute Linguistique de Lund.Google Scholar
Pienemann, M.
2015 An Outline of Processability Theory and Its Relationship to Other Approaches to SLA: An Outline of Processability Theory. Language Learning 65(1). 123–151.Google Scholar
Saturno, J.
2015 Perceptual prominence and morphological processing in initial second language acquisition. In pS-prominenceS: Prominences in linguistics. Proceedings of the international Conference, A. De Dominicis (ed.), 76–95. Viterbo: Disucom Press.Google Scholar
Siewierska, A.
1993 Syntactic weight vs information structure and word order variation in Polish. Journal of Linguistics 29(2): 233–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spada, N., Shiu, J., & Tomita, Y.
2015 Validating an elicited imitation task as a measure of implicit knowledge: Comparisons with other validation studies. Language Learning 65(3): 723–751. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vinther, T.
2002 Elicited imitation: A brief overview. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 12(1): 54–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, X. & Lantolf, J.
2015 Natural or artificial: Is the route of L2 development teachable? Language Learning 65(1): 152–180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Saturno, Jacopo
2020. Word formation in the earliest stages of L2 Polish. Language, Interaction and Acquisition 11:2 ► pp. 232 ff. DOI logo
Saturno, Jacopo
2022. Production of inflectional morphology in intercomprehension-based language teaching: the case of Slavic languages. International Journal of Multilingualism 19:3 ► pp. 383 ff. DOI logo
Saturno, Jacopo & Marzena Watorek
2020. The emergence of functional case marking in initial varieties of Polish L2. Language, Interaction and Acquisition 11:1 ► pp. 32 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 april 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.