Multilingual learners’ perceptions of cross-linguistic distances: a proposal for a visual psychotypological measure

Abstract

Recent research suggests that psychotypology may be one of the main factors determining L3 acquisition and use, especially so in the early stages. However, the existence and nature of multilingual learners’ perception of language proximity have often only been assumed rather than measured, and rarely addressed with respect to the increasingly established understanding of the multilingual mind as a complex interconnected system. The present study examines the perception of phonological proximity in a group of 44 multilinguals (aged 12–13), by means of a visual psychotypological measure. All participants had the same language repertoires, with English always being their L2, but German and Polish either their L1 or L3. This specific mirror-image design tapped the potential role of language status. The results show that their psychotypology largely coincided with actual typology, identifying English-German as most similar. However, an L1 effect was found as well; while the L1 Polish group perceived the three language pairs as more equidistant, the L1 German group clearly distinguished between them. The data also showed individual variability, confirming the need to recognize psychotypology as a unique driving force in a multilingual’s learning process.