Cover not available
Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 33:2 (2020) ► pp.475–504

When bilinguals outperform monolinguals

Evidence from definite and bare noun phrases in Spanish and English

| Wake Forest University

This study explores cross-linguistic influence among different populations of Spanish-English bilinguals by studying their interpretation, production and acceptance of definite articles in subject position. The three bilingual groups included Heritage Speakers of Spanish living in the United States, L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers, and L1 Spanish/L2 English speakers. Two groups of monolingual speakers (Spanish and English) were also tested for comparison. Results show that instructed bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on the acceptability judgment task but that monolinguals performed better on the interpretation tasks. Additionally, the type of linguistic experience each group had was found to predict variable performance across acceptance, production, and interpretation tasks. These results support multi-competence models of bilingualism, which argue that language performance is linked to language experience, suggesting that variable amounts of exposure rather than age of onset of acquisition may be the crucial difference between first language and second language speakers.

Keywords: cross-linguistic influence, bilingualism, second language acquisition, heritage speakers, definite articles, Spanish-English
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous research
  • 3.The structure under analysis
    • 3.1Bare and definite nominals in Spanish and English
    • 3.2The acquisition of bare and definite article distribution
  • 4.The study
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Tasks
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1English acceptability judgment task
    • 5.2Spanish acceptability judgment task
    • 5.3English elicited production task
    • 5.4Spanish elicited production task
    • 5.5English interpretation task
    • 5.6Spanish interpretation task
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 February 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.18003.mil
References

References

Amaral, L., & Roeper, T.
(2014) Multiple grammars and second language representation. Second Language Research, 301, 3–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Athanasopoulos, P., & Treffers-Daller, J.
(2015) Language diversity and bilingual processing. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 181, 519–528. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, A., & Gullberg, M.
(2008) Bidirectional crosslinguistic influence in L1-L2 encoding of manner in speech and gesture: A study of Japanese speakers of English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 301, 225–251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bylund, E.
(2009) Maturational constraints and first language attrition. Language Learning, 591, 687–715. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chierchia, G.
(1998) Reference to kinds across languages. Natural Language Semantics, 61, 339–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cook, V. J.
(1992) Evidence for multi-competence. Language Learning, 421, 557–591. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Effects of the second language on the first. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Costa, A., & Sebastián-Gallés, N.
(2014) How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain? Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 151, 336–345. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crain, S., & Thornton, R.
(1998) Investigations in universal grammar. A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cuza, A.
(2012) Cross-linguistic influence at the syntax proper: interrogative subject-verb inversion in heritage Spanish. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 171, 71–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cuza, A., & Frank, J.
(2015) On the role of experience and age-related effects: Evidence from the Spanish CP. Second Language Research, 301, 3–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cuza, A., Guijarro-Fuentes, P., Pires, A., & Rothman, J.
(2013) The syntax-semantics of bare and definite plural subjects in the L2 Spanish of English natives. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 17(5), 634–652. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cuza, A., Miller, L., Pérez-Tattam, R., & Ortiz, M.
(2018) Structure Complexity Effects and Vulnerable Domains in Child Heritage Spanish: The case of Spanish personal a . International Journal of Bilingualism. Online First.Google Scholar
De Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M.
(2007) A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 101, 7–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, A.
(2009) An Introduction to Bilingual Development. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R.
(2000) The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 221, 499–533. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gelman, S., & Raman, L.
(2003) Preschool Children Use Linguistic Form Class and Pragmatic Cues to Interpret Generics. Child Development, 741, 308–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Weissberger, G., Runnqvist, E., Montoya, R. I., & Cera, C. M.
(2012) Self-ratings of spoken language dominance: A multi-lingual naming test (MINT) and preliminary norms for young and aging Spanish-English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 151, 594–615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grosjean, F.
(2010) Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guijarro-Fuentes, P.
(2019) Crosslinguistic influence in bilingual acquisition: Determining onset and end. Probus, 31(2), 233–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R., & Chan, C. Y.
(1997) The partial availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition: the ‘failed functional features hypothesis’. Second Language Research, 131, 187–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopp, H., & Schmid, M.
(2013) Perceived foreign accent in L1 attrition and L2 acquisition: the impact of age of acquisition and bilingualism. Applied Psycholinguistics, 341, 361–394. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hulk, A., & Müller, N.
(2000) Bilingual first language acquisition at the interface between syntax and pragmatics. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 31, 227–244. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ionin, T., & Montrul, S.
(2010) The Role of L1-transfer in the Interpretation of Articles with Definite Plurals in L2-English. Language Learning, 60(4), 877–925. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ionin, T., Montrul, S., & Crivos, M.
(2013) A Bidirectional Study on the Acquisition of Plural Noun Phrase Interpretation in English and Spanish. Applied Psycholinguistics, 341, 483–518. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, S.
(2012) Crosslinguistic Influence and Multilingualism. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. New York: Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jessner, U.
(2006) Linguistic Awareness in Multilinguals: English as a third language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L.
(1989) Critical period effects in second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 211, 60–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Köpke, B., & Schmid, M. S.
(2004) First language attrition: The next phase. In M. S. Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar (Eds.), First language attrition: Interdisciplinary perspectives on methodological issues (pp. 1–43). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kupisch, T.
(2012) Specific and generic subjects in the Italian of German–Italian simultaneous bilinguals and L2 learners. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 151, 736–756. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kupisch, T., & Barton, D.
(2013) Generic Reference in Adult German Bilinguals: How bilinguals deal with variation. Studia Linguistica, 671, 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laca, B.
(2013) Spanish Bare Plurals and Topicalization. In J. Kabatek & A. Wall (Eds.), New Perspectives on Bare Noun Phrases in Romance and Beyond (pp. 95–120). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lambert, R. D., & Freed, B. F.
(1982) The Loss of Language Skills. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Lapesa, R.
(1996) El sustantivo sin actualizador en español. In I. Bosque (Ed.), El sustantivo sin determinación. La ausencia de determinante en la lengua española (pp. 121–137). Madrid: Visor.Google Scholar
Lee-Ellis, S.
(2012) Looking into bilingualism through the heritage speaker’s mind (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Maryland, College Park, USA.Google Scholar
Liceras, J. M., Fernández, R. & Alba de la Fuente, A.
(2012) Subject and copula omission in the English grammar of English-Spanish bilinguals: on the issue of directionality of interlinguistic influence. First Language, 31(1–2), 88–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liceras, J. M.
(1989) On some properties of the “pro-drop” parameter: looking for missing subjects in non-native Spanish. In S. Gass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition (pp. 109–133). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liceras, J. M., & Díaz, L.
(1999) Topic-drop versus pro-drop: null subjects and pronominal subjects in the Spanish L2 of Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese and Korean speakers. Second Language Research, 151, 1–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meisel, J. M.
(2001) The simultaneous acquisition of two first languages: Early differentiation and subsequent development of grammars. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (Eds.), Trends in Bilingual Acquisition (pp. 11–41). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S.
(2013) Differential Object Marking in Argentine Spanish. An experimental study. In L. Colantoni & C. Rodríguez Louro (Eds.) The Handbook of Argentine Spanish (pp. 207–228). Frankfurt: Vervuert Iberoamericana.Google Scholar
Montrul, S., de la Fuente, I., Davidson, J., & Foote, R.
(2013) The role of experience in the acquisition and production of diminutives and gender in Spanish: Evidence from L2 learners and heritage speakers. Second Language Research, 291, 87–118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Foote, R., & Perpiñán, S.
(2008) Gender agreement in adult second language Learners and Spanish heritage speakers: The effects of age and context of acquisition. Language Learning, 581, 503–553. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., & Ionin, T.
(2012) Dominant language transfer in Spanish heritage speakers and L2 learners in the interpretation of definite articles. The Modern Language Journal, 961, 70–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Transfer effects in the interpretation of definite articles by Spanish heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(4), 449–473. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nicoladis, E., Pika, S., & Marentette, P.
(2009) Do French-English bilingual children gesture more than monolingual children? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 381, 573–585. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olarrea, A.
(1998) On the position of subjects in Spanish. Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca “Julio de Urquijo”, 321, 47–108.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A., & Jarvis, S.
(2002) Bidirectional Transfer. Applied Linguistics, 231, 190–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Leroux, A. T., Cuza, A., & Thomas, D.
(2011) Clitic placement in Spanish/English bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 141, 221–232. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Leroux, A. T., Munn, A., Schmitt, C., & DeIrish, M.
(2004) Learning definite determiners: genericity and definiteness in English and Spanish. In A. Brugos, L. Micciulla & C. E. Smith (Eds.), Proceedings supplement to the 28th Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Polinsky, M.
(2011) Reanalysis in adult heritage language: A case for attrition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 331, 305–328. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Platzack, C.
(1996) The Initial Hypothesis of Syntax: A minimalist perspective on language acquisition and attrition. In H. Clahsen (Ed.), Generative Perspectives on Language Acquisition: Empirical findings, theoretical considerations, and crosslinguistic comparisons (pp. 369–414). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Putnam, M., & Sánchez, L.
(2013) What’s so incomplete about incomplete acquisition? A prolegomenon to modeling heritage language grammars. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 31, 476–506. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Romaine, S.
(1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Rothman, J., & Iverson, M.
(2007) The Syntax of Pronominal Subjects in L2 Spanish: Comparing Two L2 Populations with Different Exposure. RESLA – Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics, 201, 185–214.Google Scholar
Sáez Rivera, D.
(2013) Bare Nominals in American-Spanish Headlines. In J. Kabatek & A. Wall (Eds.), New Perspectives on Bare Noun Phrases in Romance and Beyond (pp. 157–188). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seliger, H. W., & Vago, R. M.
(1991) First Language Attrition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serratrice, L.
(2002) Overt subjects in English: evidence for the marking of person in an English-Italian bilingual child. Journal of Child Language, 291, 327–355. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serratrice, L., Sorace, A., Filiaci, F., & Baldo, M.
(2009) Bilingual children’s sensitivity to specificity and genericity: Evidence from metalinguistic awareness. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(2), 239–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serratrice, L., Sorace, A., & Paoli, S.
(2004) Subjects and objects in Italian-English bilingual and monolingual acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 71, 183–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharwood Smith, M.
(1983) Crosslinguistic Aspects of Second Language Acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 41, 192–199. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T.
(1984) Bilingualism or not – the education of minorities. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Slabakova, R., Kempchinsky, P., & Rothman, J.
(2012) Clitic-doubled left dislocation and focus fronting in L2 Spanish: A case of successful acquisition at the syntax–discourse interface. Second Language Research, 28(3), 319–343. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snape, N., García-Mayo, M., & Gürel, A.
(2013) L1 transfer in article selection for generic reference by Spanish, Turkish and Japanese L2 learners. International Journal of English Studies, 13(1), 1–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A., & Serratrice, L.
(2009) Internal and external interfaces in bilingual language development: Beyond structural overlap. International Journal of Bilingualism, 131, 195–210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Suñer, M.
(1982) The Syntax and Semantics of Spanish Presentational Sentences-Types. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Spears, A. K.
(2007) Bare Nouns in African-American English. In M. Baptista & J. Guerón (Eds.), Noun Phrases in Creole Languages (pp. 412–434). Philadelphia and Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Osch, B., Hulk, A., Aalberse, S., & Sleeman, P.
(2018) Implicit and explicit knowledge of a multiple interface phenomenon: Differential task effects in heritage speakers and L2 speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands. Languages, 3(3), 25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yan, S., & Nicoladis, E.
(2009) Finding le mot juste: Differences between bilingual and monolingual children’s lexical access in comprehension and production. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 121, 323–335. DOI logoGoogle Scholar