Abstract
Abstract Exposure to English is more extensive in today’s society than to French. In this study we investigated crosslinguistic influences from Dutch and/or English to language performances in French as a foreign language, while controlling for language proficiency in French, English and Dutch, and exposure to English. We tested Dutch learners of French (n = 65) with respect to the acceptability of reduced relative clauses and attachment preferences in full relative clauses. The results showed crosslinguistic influence in the acceptability task and the preference task from English and Dutch respectively. Furthermore, language proficiency in English seems to affect attachment preferences in French. We concluded that these findings support the Linguistic Proximity Model (Westergaard et al. 2017) and that French in Dutch secondary education might be a third language, instead of a second language.
Highlights
Based on these indications, we may predict that French as a foreign language is an L3 in regular secondary education in the Netherlands
The Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM) (Westergaard et al 2017) claims that both the L1 and L2 can be a source of transfer in L3 acquisition, but that the selection of L1 or L2 depends upon the structural similarities between the L3 and previously acquired languages
In this paper we investigate the source of transfer (i.e., Dutch as an L1 and/ or English as an L2) by focusing on attachment preferences in full relative clauses and the acceptability of reduced relative clauses in French as a foreign language
Summary
We may predict that French as a foreign language is an L3 in regular secondary education in the Netherlands. The aim of this paper is to test this prediction by focusing on Dutch learners of French enrolled in a regular program of secondary education. The Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM) (Westergaard et al 2017) claims that both the L1 and L2 can be a source of transfer in L3 acquisition, but that the selection of L1 or L2 depends upon the structural similarities between the L3 and previously acquired languages. In this paper we investigate the source of transfer (i.e., Dutch as an L1 and/ or English as an L2) by focusing on attachment preferences in full relative clauses and the acceptability of reduced relative clauses in French as a foreign language. We will control for exposure to English, and proficiency in English, Dutch and French
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