Chapter 2
Mapping at external interfaces
Embedded clitic left dislocations in L2 Spanish
This study investigates embedded clitic left dislocation (CLLD), a syntax-discourse interface structure expressing topicalization, in a group of native and L2 Spanish speakers (beginners, intermediate, advanced). The Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011) proposes that external interfaces pose inordinate difficulty for bilinguals, even at near-native levels. Results did not show evidence of such difficulty although differences in methodology (tasks imposing time pressure vs. not) could account for divergences. Additionally, not all syntax-discourse interface properties might be equally problematic: CLLD might not intrinsically place the same processing burden as other structures (e.g., anaphora resolution). Finally, results showed input quality was positively correlated to native-like outcomes, beyond proficiency. Hence, results are in broad agreement with accounts proposing input is the key factor for acquisition.
Article outline
- Structure under study
- CLLD in Romance
- CLLD and specificity
- CLLD in embedded clauses
- Learning tasks
- Methods
- Proficiency test
- Background questionnaire
- Clitic-knowledge test
- Audio-visual rating task
- Results
- Proficiency test and background questionnaire
- Clitic task
- Audio-visual rating task
- The contribution of study abroad
- Discussion
- Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
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