Advanced L2 Users Research Articles

Not Batting an Eye: Figurative Meanings of L2 Idioms Do Not Interfere with Literal Uses

Encountering idioms (hit the sack = “go to bed”) in a second language (L2) often results in a literal-first understanding (“literally hit a sack”). The figurative meaning is retrieved later, subject to idiom familiarity and L2 proficiency, and typically at a processing cost. Intriguingly recent findings report the overextension of idiom use in inappropriate contexts by advanced L2 users, with greater L2 proficiency somewhat mitigating this effect. In this study, we tested the tenability of this finding by comparing eye-movement patterns for idioms used literally, vs. literal control phrases (hit the dirt) in an eye-tracking-while-reading paradigm. We hypothesised that if idiom overextension holds, processing delays should be observed for idioms, as the (over)activated but contextually irrelevant figurative meanings would cause interference. In contrast, unambiguous control phrases should be faster to process. The results demonstrated undifferentiated processing for idioms used literally and control phrases across measures, with L2 proficiency affecting both similarly. Therefore, the findings do not support the hypothesis that advanced L2 users overextend idiom use in inappropriate contexts, nor that L2 proficiency modulates this tendency. The results are also discussed in light of potential pitfalls pertaining to idiom priming under typical experimental settings.

Path Under Construction: Challenges Beyond S-Framed Motion Event Construal in L2 German

The encoding of motion events is known to be challenging for second language (L2) users, particularly if the lexicalization patterns of their first language (L1) diverge from those of the L2. This paper analyzes oral and written motion event descriptions produced by advanced L2 users of German, an information-dense satellite-framed language. Based on L2 usage and error patterns, we discuss six major challenges with respect to motion event encoding and, more specifically, path encoding. These challenges clearly go beyond event construal and the acquisition of the basic satellite-framed lexicalization pattern (e.g., verb semantics) as well as beyond expected challenges related to the use of prepositional phrases (e.g., prepositional semantics, case marking). Advanced L2 users actually particularly struggle with “smaller” path encoding devices such as particles, locative and directional adverbs, their formal and functional differentiation, their usage patterns and combinatorial potential. These aspects seem to be challenging for advanced L2 users of German with either verb-framed L1s (French, Spanish) or satellite-framed L1s (Danish, English). We therefore discuss characteristics of the target language input that might explain why L2 users struggle with identifying and differentiating these path encoding devices, their usage, and combinatorial patterns. We sketch potential implications for L2 teaching.

Evidentiality in Turkish as L2: Evidence from the final attainment of Russian immigrants

The study examines use of evidentiality in the Turkish language, which requires the activation of the morphology-pragmatics interface, by Russian L1 immigrants, who are advanced L2 users of Turkish. The data were collected via using a narrative, discourse completion and grammaticality judgement task. Quantitative and qualitative inter-group analyses were conducted. The findings have revealed that the use of Turkish evidential markers of the Russian immigrant group shows differences in their use and grammaticality judgement of evidentiality in Turkish when they are compared with native Turkish speakers. Our findings suggest that evidentiality in Turkish is challenging even for advanced L2 users.

Exploring knowledge of transparent and non-transparent multi-word phrases among L2 English learners living in an Anglophone setting

Skillful use of figurative phrases is often a benchmark for advanced or “native-like” English. Despite being highly prevalent, non-compositional phrases present a disproportionate challenge for L2 English users (Barfield & Gyllstad, 2009; Carrol & Conklin, 2017); this asymmetrical challenge appears to decrease with increased exposure and linguistic proficiency (Beck & Weber, 2016; Macias & Schmitt, 2017). This study administered an electronic assessment of knowledge of British English verb + object multi-word phrases of varying transparency to identify knowledge differences between intermediate and advanced L2 learners and monolinguals and to quantify the effect of non-transparency. Eighty-one adults participated: 61 U.K.-based L2 English users (37 intermediate; 25 advanced) and 19 British English monolinguals. A 3x3 ANOVA revealed significant differences between intermediate and advanced L2 users; advanced L2 users living in the U.K. differed significantly from monolinguals in knowledge of non-transparent phrases. Findings demonstrated an effect of non-transparency, such that it was significantly more challenging for learners to produce non-transparent phrases than comparably frequent transparent phrases. Implications for L2 English learners in Anglophone and in non-Anglophone settings are discussed.

Collocational frequency and context effects on idiom processing in advanced L2 speakers.

Multiword expressions have attracted attention recently following suggestions that they are acquired chunk-wise by children in the first language, while adults learning a second language may focus more on individual words within an expression. This is of particular interest for the acquisition of idioms, which are multiword expressions in which the literal meanings of the component words do not (always) directly contribute to overall phrasal meaning, resulting in a figurative interpretation. Figurative meaning access is speeded both by idiom-internal characteristics, like higher collocational frequency, and idiom-external characteristics, like supportive contexts. We examined the relationship between the collocational frequency of idioms' component words and the context in which an idiom is embedded. In a visual world eye-tracking study, advanced nonnative English speakers heard incomplete English phrases embedded within contexts that biased either literal or idiomatic continuations and saw images representing literal or figurative completions, or distractor images. Participants showed higher looks to figurative completions that were at odds with contextual bias, suggesting that integrating frequency information in context in adult L2 users may be overridden when a phrase is figurative. However, higher-proficiency participants showed more successful suppression of inappropriate figurative continuations. These results suggest that idiom conventionality when compared to literal phrases may be a stronger driver of predictive looks than collocational frequency or contextual bias alone, and that sensitivity to contextual fit when processing idioms may still be developing even among very advanced L2 users. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Reading Rate of Academic English Texts: Comparing L1 and Advanced L2 Users in Different Language Environments

Slower reading in a second language (L2) has been attributed to lower proficiency and/or to slower language processing. This study investigates the role of linguistic context in L1 and L2 academic reading speed among 295 undergraduate Psychology students who all read English language texts at university. The aim was to compare academic reading among students in a predominantly English-speaking environment (the UK) with those in a parallel language context where both English and the local language are used in teaching (Norway). Three groups were tested: Norwegian students in Norway, and both L1 and L2 English-users in the UK. Participants completed a timed academic reading task, followed by comprehension questions. Although all three groups achieved similar mean scores on the comprehension questions, the L1 and L2 English-speaking students in the UK read the text significantly faster than the Norwegian students. There was no significant difference between reading times for the L1 and L2 readers in the UK, indicating that the difference was not simply a consequence of L2 reading. Additionally, in contrast to previous research on groups with lower L2 proficiency, this study found no significant association between reported extramural English exposure and reading speed in either L2 group. The results indicate that advanced L2 readers in a parallel language environment may need more time to read academic texts in L2 compared to L1 readers and L2 readers in an immersion context, which has implications for the time and support needed by these students.

Stå på, ikke gi opp – the use of Norwegian particle verbs in email messages by advanced L2 users whose L1 is Finnish

The aim of the present study is to examine similarities and differences in the use of particle verbs (PVs) between advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in their teens and Norwegian L1 speakers of the same age. The data consists of three writing tasks (email messages) written by 6 bilingual Finnish -Norwegian participants and 6 native speakers of Norwegian. Previous research has shown that second language (L2) users, who are highly advanced, face problems using multi-word expressions. For example, they tend to use less PVs than native speakers. The advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in the present study also show a slight tendency to use fewer PVs than the native speakers. However, the Finnish-Norwegian participants used some more idiomatic PVs than the native speakers of Norwegian. The results show that advanced bilingual users of Norwegian who live in an L2 environment and receive a great amount of natural input and output from an early age utilized PVs in a manner congruent to native speakers. Despite differences between the Finnish and Norwegian languages, there are also similarities with regard to PVs. The bilingual participants are familiar with PVs in their first language, Finnish, and they may benefit from that, even though these verbs are not as frequent in Finnish as in Norwegian.

An empirical study of the classifier effect in advanced L2 users of Chinese

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions:This article examines the classifier effect on categorization among advanced Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners. More specifically, it aims to answer this question: Is non-classifier language speakers’ categorization of objects influenced by the acquisition of the Chinese classifier system?Design/methodology/approach, data and analysis:Native Chinese speakers, advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were asked to rate the relatedness of drawing pairs based on either classifier or taxonomy/theme; advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were then asked to immediately recall two lists of nouns, one associated with three taxonomic categories and the other with three classifiers. Repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to examine the major effect between drawing relations (classifier related, taxonomically/thematically related and unrelated) and participant groups. Two measures of NCR (number of correct recall) and RR (ratio of repetition) were calculated and analysed to examine effective memory retrieval as well as subjective clustering.Findings/conclusions:Results showed that preferences for classifier-based and taxonomy/theme -based categorizations differed between advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants. CSL learners’ knowledge of the classifier system also facilitated their performance in recalling and clustering objects. The findings revealed that concepts in bilingual minds may be language-specific and an alternative interpretation of the real world is internalized by learning a new language.Originality:Unlike previous studies, this article extended the examination of the cognitive consequences of classifiers to late bilinguals whose second language (L2) proficiency was formally assessed.Significance/implications:This study contributes empirical data supporting the importance of nonverbal behavioural evidence in the study of bilingual cognition. The degree and nature of the restructuring of real-world referents as a consequence of acquiring Chinese classifiers is of pedagogical value to second-language acquisition (SLA).

Second language English listeners’ relative processing of coherence-based and frequency-based formulas: A corpus-based study

Abstract This study investigated L2 English listeners’ processing of formulas, in terms of the impact of two different factors inherent in these formulas. One was the formulas’ level of coherence and the other was the formulas’ level of frequency. High-coherence formulas are considered to have specialized meanings, while high-frequency formulas are considered to be less specialized in meaning, commonly being composed of relatively simple words that often co-occur in speech. In previous research, in an academic context, Ellis, Simpson-Vlach and Maynard (2008. Formulaic language in native and second-language speakers: Psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics, and TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 41. 375–396. doi:10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00137.x) had found that a high level of coherence was the main factor facilitating L1 users’ receptive processing of formulas, while a high level of frequency was the main factor facilitating advanced L2 users’ receptive processing of formulas. Ellis, Simpson-Vlach and Maynard (2008. Formulaic language in native and second-language speakers: Psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics, and TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 41. 375–396. doi:10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00137.x), from a usage-based perspective, attributed these differences mainly to the greater length of time the L1 users had spent in learning formulas. Consequently, the current study investigated whether these processing differences between the two user groups in an academic context (seen as a possible developmental trend) would be apparent between proficient and less-proficient L2 listeners in a relatively less-challenging, general English environment. The study was considered important for possibly signaling the types of aural receptive formulas to foreground by L2 general English instructors and materials designers. The research examined two groups of L2 learners, one advanced and the other intermediate level, while they listened to four texts. A paused transcription technique elicited the listeners’ identification of targeted segments from the texts, many of which were classified through corpus analysis as containing more/less-coherent formulas or more/less-frequent formulas. Examination of how these formula types were processed by both proficiency groups, however, did not find major differences between the groups in their processing of the different formula types, and thus little evidence of a possible formula developmental trend.

The relationship between English proficiency and humour appreciation among English L1 users and Chinese L2 users of English

AbstractHumour appreciation involves split second detection and resolution of cultural and pragmatic incongruities. Second language (L2) users may need more time and effort to understand and appreciate L2 humour. Previous studies have mostly used decontextualized verbal jokes and reported a linear relationship between L2 proficiency and humour appreciation. The present study strives for more ecological validity by using audiovisual-based, multimodal humorous stimuli. A total of 272 Chinese L2 users of English and 94 English L1 users rated the funniness and the ease of understanding of two short video extracts and then completed an English vocabulary size test, LexTALE. The findings suggest that L2 users need to reach a certain threshold in L2 linguistic, pragmatic and sociocultural knowledge before a positive linear relationship emerges between proficiency and appreciation of multimodal humorous stimuli. Also, advanced L2 users demonstrated similarities with English L1 users in humour processing.

The acquisition of formulaic language by EFL learners

Most of the studies on the use of phraseology by second language learners concentrate on advanced L2 users. Researchers attempt to tease out to what extent learners’ phraseology is different from the native one. There are almost no accounts of formulaic language emerging at the early stages of learning, particularly in foreign language settings. The research reported in this paper attempts to bridge this gap. It is exploratory in nature and investigates the emergence and use of lexical bundles by a range of students learning English in the classroom setting. The data analyzed in the study were drawn from the ICCI corpus and are examined with reference to learners’ ages, stages of proficiency, and L1 backgrounds. The probed essays were written by students in grades 6, 9 and 12 with Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Polish and Spanish as their L1s.

Effect of language proficiency and degree of formal training in simultaneous interpreting on working memory and interpreting performance: Evidence from Mandarin–English speakers

The influence of second language proficiency and length of formal training in interpretation on simultaneous interpreting (SI) performance and working memory was examined in Mandarin–English student interpreters with one year ( n = 11) or two years of formal training in interpretation ( n = 9) and in 16 Mandarin–English untrained bilingual controls. SI performance was significantly better in Year 2 than in Year 1 student interpreters, and in Year 1 interpreters relative to bilingual controls. SI performance was also better in advanced L2 users and in high-memory span individuals, whether trained or not in SI. Both Year 1 and Year 2 students outperformed bilingual controls in L1 and L2 reading span. Although Year 2 students tended to show higher working memory span than Year 1 students, the difference was not significant. Finally, working memory span was higher in individuals with greater L2 proficiency. It is concluded that differences in language proficiency may underlie observed differences in both interpreting performance and working memory and that language processing skills (rather than working memory) may be enhanced by formal training in interpreting.

Text Composition in a Second Language

We investigated the influence of the language of writing (L1 versus L2) and the condition of writing (direct writing vs. writing via translation) on generic (obligatory and compositional) elements and discourse patterns (idea units and speech act functions) of texts composed by L2 writers with different proficiency levels in L2. The novelty of this investigation is the pragmalinguistic analysis of the texts produced by L2 writers. In our analysis, we concentrate on higher levels of text representation. The texts composed by L2 writers are advertisements of products and services. To avoid as much as possible an exercise- and educational effect, we had to find a task that for all participants would be novel but realistic, motivating, and feasible. Writing an advertisement seemed to fulfil these requirements best. A total number of 20 participants engaged in the data collection procedure, ten of whom were short-residence beginners and ten were long-residence advanced L2 users. Each participant was asked to write three advertisements in the following order of conditions: Directly in Dutch (L2d-text); Directly in Russian (Lid-text) and Translation from Russian into Dutch (L2t-text). We did not look for "reverse" transfer explicitly. However, some evidence was found for a reverse transfer hypothesis in our data, especially for the long-residence group. The results of our study show that advanced L2 writers produced direct Russian texts (Lid-text) with higher total numbers on all analyzed elements than beginning L2 writers. Their texts consist of more idea units and contain a greater variety of speech act functions.Another tendency is that long-residence L2 writers elaborate more in the direct L2 condition than in the L2 translation condition. This finding contradicts the results of the study by Kobayashi (1984), which is surprising because L2 writers elaborate most in the condition in which they had to combine cognitive higher-order processing with lower level grammatical and lexical processing during writing.

Evidence for Multicompetence

The term multicompetence describes “the compound state of a mind with two grammars” (Cook, 1991a, p. 112). This paper reviews evidence addressing two questions:1. Do people who know two languages differ from people who know only one in other respects than simply knowledge of an L2? L2 users differ from monolinguals in L1 knowledge; advanced L2 users differ from monolinguals in L2 knowledge; L2 usershave a different metalinguistic awareness from monolinguals; L2 users have different cognitive processes. These subtle differences consistently suggest that people with multicompetence are not simply equivalent to two monolinguals but are a unique combination.2. Do people who know two languages have a merged language system rather than two separate systems? The L1 and L2 share the same mentallexicon; L2 users codeswitch readily; L2 processing cannot be cut off from LI; both languages are stored in the same areas of the brain; L2 proficiency relates to L1 proficiency. This evidence suggests merged systems at some level in some areas, even if some of it is open to other interpretations.A final section discusses more general issues. Much SLA research is biased by adopting the monolingual as a norm rather than the multicompetent speaker. Multicompetence distinguishes diachronic transfer during the learner's acquisition from synchronic transfer between the two languages at a single moment of time. Multicompetence starts when there is systematic knowledge of an L2 that is not assimilated to the L1. Holistic multicompetence is seen as an offshoot of polylectal grammar theory applied to monolinguals. Language teaching should try to produce multicompetent individuals not ersatz native speakers.