Part of
Linguistic Approaches to Portuguese as an Additional LanguageEdited by Karina Veronica Molsing, Cristina Becker Lopes Perna and Ana Maria Tramunt Ibaños
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 24] 2020
► pp. 83–106
This study addresses the multi-directionality of vowel transfer by L1 Riverplate Spanish learners of Brazilian Portuguese. We verify the influence of the second language (L2) and the third language (L3) on the production of the mother tongue (L1). Our results showed that (1) the development of the Brazilian Portuguese vowel system was highly dependent on the language systems the participants had previously acquired, and (2) the presence of an L2 or L3 system also affected the L1 (and the L2 system, in the case of the acquisition of an L3). These results shed some light on the multi-directionality of language transfer, as they show that all language systems are in constant development and interaction throughout the whole lifespan.