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Part of
L1 Acquisition and L2 Learning: The view from Romance
Edited by Larisa Avram, Anca Sevcenco and Veronica Tomescu
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 65] 2021
► pp. 173–202

Chapter 7
L1 effects in the L2 acquisition of long-distance binding in European Portuguese

 | CLUNL/NOVA-FCSH
 | CLUNL/NOVA-FCSH
This paper examines the acquisition, by Spanish and Italian speakers, of the binding properties of the long-distance reflexive si in European Portuguese in indicative and subjunctive contexts, addressing the following research questions: (i) Do learners transfer knowledge of the binding properties of the equivalent reflexive in their L1? (ii) Do they develop knowledge of the binding properties of the reflexive? Despite the fact that Spanish and Italian reportedly differ in the availability of long-distance binding (Napoli, 1979; Otero, 1999), our results from a study on native speakers of both languages, using a picture selection task, showed a significant preference for local binding. Findings from a truth-value judgement task applied to Spanish- and Italian-speaking learners of L2 European Portuguese are reported: both learner groups show a preference for local binding but follow different developmental paths. The results also indicate delays in the development of the relevant knowledge of long distance reflexives.
Keywords: L2 acquisition, L1 transfer, long-distance binding, European Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, reflexive si
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Long-distance reflexives
    • 2.1Typological characteristics of LD reflexives
    • 2.2The reflexive si in EP, Spanish and Italian
    • 2.3Deriving LD binding in EP
  • 3.L2 acquisition of reflexives
  • 4.Study 1: Characterising the learners’ L1 grammars
    • 4.1Methodology
      • 4.1.1Participants
      • 4.1.2Tasks and procedure
    • 4.2Results
  • 5.Study 2: Binding properties of the reflexive si in L2 grammars
    • 5.1Research questions and hypotheses
    • 5.2Participants
    • 5.3Experimental task and procedure
  • 6.The results of the truth-value judgement task
    • 6.1Overall results
    • 6.2Results by context (indicative/subjunctive)
    • 6.3Individual results
  • 7.Discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 November 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.65.07fie
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