Between syntax and discourse

Oksana Laleko,Maria Polinsky

doi:10.1075/lab.14018.lal

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the knowledge of topic and subject particles in heritage speakers and L2 learners of Japanese and Korean. We assume that topic marking is mediated at the syntax-information structure interface, while subject marking pertains to narrow syntax. In comparing phenomena mediated at different levels of linguistic organization, we provide evidence for the hypothesis that information structure-level phenomena present greater challenges for bilingual speakers than those mediated within syntax. While these results may be interpreted as evidence of generalized interface-related deficits, we show that such a global explanation is not supported. Instead, a more nuanced account is developed, based on the recognition of different types of topic (anaphoric, generic, and contrastive) and different types of subject (descriptive and exhaustive). Under the proposed account, non-native speakers’ deficits follow from three unrelated effects: the status of topic as an interface category, structural complexity, and the memory demands necessary for its interpretation in context.

Highlights

Assuming that topic marking is regulated to a greater extent by pragmatic knowledge than the marking of nominative case, these findings suggest greater difficulty with discourse-level phenomena than with those mediated within the grammar
Heritage language speakers exhibited a significant difference between these two conditions (p
Lack of clear judgments in heritage speakers and second language learners of Japanese and Korean with respect to where topic particles may or may not be omitted lends support to the idea that constructions involving pragmatic and discourse-level knowledge may be more difficult to interpret for these speakers than constructions regulated by the grammar

Summary

Introduction

Heritage language and second language (L2) acquisition represent two distinct pathways to adult bilingualism. They differ along a number of dimensions, including the specific circumstances of language exposure and the nature of competence deficits across different language modules. Heritage speakers begin the acquisition of a socially non-dominant language in a family setting, and in this respect, their experience with the target language compares to that of early L1 learners, at least at the outset of the language acquisition process. The main difference is that heritage speakers’ L1 language acquisition is subsequently interrupted by exposure to another language. Adult L2 learners, on the other hand, are late bilinguals whose exposure to the non-dominant language typically takes place in an instructed setting

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