L2 Spanish Research Articles

Effect of perceptual training without feedback on bilingual speech perception

This study examines the effect of perceptual training without feedback on the discrimination of the Spanish stop-approximant contrasts [b]–[B], [d]–[ð], and [g]–[y]. Of interest is if the aural repetition of target stimuli improves discrimination accuracy, how many repetitions are needed to observe a significant increase in perceptual discrimination accuracy, and if there is an effect of contrast type. Perception of the Spanish target phones was assessed in adult native (L1) Spanish speakers (n = 10) and L1 English bilingual learners of L2 Spanish (n = 23) via VCV nonwords over six blocks of 10 trials, featuring Spanish approximants and voiced stops in an AX discrimination task. Results indicate a significant effect of aural stimulus repetition on discrimination accuracy scores improvement. Significant improvements were observed for all three contrasts, with discrimination gradually improving across blocks. The data indicated that the [y]–[g] contrast was the most difficult contrast and exhibited the highest rate of discrimination accuracy improvement. Discrimination accuracy score improvements were also significantly larger for L1 English listeners in comparison with the L1 Spanish listeners for this contrast.

Apples, tomatoes, and health: comparison of structural characteristics of the L1 and L2 mental lexicons

Abstract The present study delves into the structure and lexical organization of L1 and L2 mental lexicons. Indirect access to the mental lexicon is provided by semantic fluency tasks, which inform researchers about how the words are organized in the mental lexicon and retrieved when necessary. Here, two groups of participants were asked to retrieve as many words of the category fruits and vegetables as possible in two minutes. The first group is made up of native speakers of Spanish who responded in Spanish L1, whereas the second group is made up of native speakers of Greek who are learning Spanish foreign language (SFL) who responded first in Spanish FL and later in Greek L1. The three sets of responses were scrutinized and compared for similarities and differences. Results point to a retrieval mechanism based on L1-mediated access for SFL learners and slightly different structures of the mental lexicon. Even in very advanced learners, lexical organization and word retrieval in the FL resembles L1 organization.

A comparative study of developing L1 and L2 writers’ metalinguistic activity in collaborative writing tasks among young Basque immersion learners

ENGLISH ABSTRACT Studies analysing the metatalk generated in collaborative writing (CW) tasks have primarily targeted secondary or adult students who wrote either in L1 or L2, and have seldom examined the process of their writing in two languages. Furthermore, these analyses have mostly focused on accuracy discussions and have ignored discussions aimed at making stylistic decisions. This study compared the metalinguistic activity of 65 bilingual Spanish-Basque Primary school students (at the age of 10–11 years) writing in L1 (Spanish) and L2 (Basque). Students’ conversations in the two languages were scrutinised and later compared for Language-Related Episodes (LRE). Similarities were observed between the two languages regarding the number of LREs and their correct resolutions. However, differences arose regarding the focus of the LREs: more morphosyntactic LREs were produced in L2 Basque, whereas spelling LREs were the most common in L1 Spanish. Additionally, L2 Basque had more accuracy-driven LREs and L1 Spanish had more stylistic LREs. The results are discussed in terms of maturity and proficiency: more attention is paid to spelling at younger ages owing to the immature development of transcription rules, and more discussions are made on style as language proficiency increases.

Error Corrective Treatment in Spanish L1 ESL Learners: Suggesting an Empirical Method

Error Analysis and Treatment seems to be paramount to the success of the learning-teaching process of a second (or further) language as it deals with the very material produced by learners during their learning process. This study aims to propose an error analysis and treatment method that could link the theoretical background of Error Analysis and the daily practice of English as a Second Language in the classroom. To reach the objective we analysed (following and applying the proposed method) 100 different written outputs of learners of different levels of English. The proposed method Discussion, Analysis, and Feedback (ADF) has clear classroom implications that can improve teachers’ and learners’ performance and, can also help assess and reassess the syllabi of ESL.

More than tough luck

Abstract Applied Cognitive Linguistics (ACL, henceforth) offers a vision of language closely tied to our experiences and views of the world, showing great promise for foreign language teaching and learning. Building upon this meaning-centered perspective, this paper discusses an interventional, quasi-experimental study assessing the effectiveness of incorporating animated images into materials for teaching comparative constructions in L2 Spanish. Conducted in three phases with varying participation rates (69 students in the first, 18 in the second, and 27 in the third), the study faced numerous factors that hindered data collection process and thereby influenced the results. Although the findings were not statistically significant, they suggest a slight improvement in post-test performance in both the experimental and comparison groups. While the potential of ACL in second language teaching and learning is undeniable, so are the challenges faced in L2 classrooms. This underscores the need for further empirical research to bridge the gap between theoretical principles and their practical implementation in real classroom settings.

Tense and aspect in the interlanguage of Slavic speakers learning Romance languages

ABSTRACT The study addresses the research gap of how being a speaker of a Slavic language influences the ability to convey tempo-aspectual meanings in Romance languages by examining personal and impersonal narratives delivered in written and spoken mode by learners of L3 Spanish and L3 Italian with L1 Slovak and L2 English. Narratives are analysed following the methods of interlanguage analysis proposed by Ellis and Barkhuizen [(2005). Analysing learner language. Oxford University Press] and Salaberry and Comajoan [(2013). Research design and methodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect. De Gruyter Mouton], such as coding for grounding, frequency analysis of tense forms and lexical aspectual classes, etc. Following the ideas presented by Bayley (2013, Data analysis: Quantitative approaches. In M. R. Salaberry & L. Comajoan (Eds.), Research design andmethodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect (pp. 357–390). De Gruyter Mouton), binomial logistic regression models were built which showed that (a) the combination of discourse grounding and lexical aspect is of predictive power regarding the appropriateness of participants’ choices of morphological marking; (b) the distributional characteristics of morphological marking on telic predicates differs from activities and statives. One of the main differences compared to the results of previous studies, conducted on speakers of Germanic languages, is that the data did not provide enough evidence for morphological marking being used to convey primarily temporal distinctions (see Salaberry, 1999, The development of past tense verbal morphology in classroom L2 Spanish. Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 151–178. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/20.2.151; Wiberg, E. (1996). Reference to past events in bilingual Italian-Swedish children of school age. Linguistics, 34(5), 1087–1114. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1996.34.5.1087]) and presented the marking of telic predicates in foreground with perfective morphology as consistent, disregarding the level of participants’ performance.

Lenition in L2 Spanish: The Impact of Study Abroad on Phonological Acquisition.

Objective: This study investigated the degrees of lenition, or consonantal weakening, in the production of Spanish stop consonants by native English speakers during a study abroad (SA) program. Lenition is a key phonological process in Spanish, where voiced stops (/b/, /d/, /ɡ/) typically weaken to fricatives or approximants in specific phonetic environments. For L2 learners, mastering this subtle process is essential for achieving native-like pronunciation. Methods: To assess the learners' progress in acquiring lenition, we employed Phonet, a deep learning model. Unlike traditional quantitative acoustic methods that focus on measuring the physical properties of speech sounds, Phonet utilizes recurrent neural networks to predict the posterior probabilities of phonological features, particularly sonorant and continuant characteristics, which are central to the lenition process. Results: The results indicated that while learners showed progress in producing the fricative-like variants of lenition during the SA program and understood how to produce lenition in appropriate contexts, the retention of these phonological gains was not sustained after their return. Additionally, unlike native speakers, the learners never fully achieved the approximant-like realization of lenition. Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for sustained exposure and practice beyond the SA experience to ensure the long-term retention of L2 phonological patterns. While SA programs offer valuable opportunities for enhancing L2 pronunciation, they should be supplemented with ongoing support to consolidate and extend the gains achieved during the immersive experience.

The Impact of Explicit Metalinguistic Knowledge in L1 on the Usage of the Present Subjunctive in Relative Clauses in L3

This study aimed to investigate how learners from India, whose first language (L1) is Hindi, second language (L2) is English, and third language (L3) is Spanish, recognize and consciously utilize the cross-linguistic similarities and differences related to the present subjunctive mood in relative clauses. Notably, the subjunctive mood shows significant parallels between Hindi (L1) and Spanish (L3). The research involved 64 participants enrolled in the second year of Bachelor of Arts programs in Spanish at Jawaharlal Nehru University, representing different proficiency levels. An acceptability judgment task and a metalinguistic knowledge test were used to assess whether a high level of metalinguistic knowledge (MLK) and metalinguistic awareness (MLA) facilitated the transfer from L1 Hindi to L3 Spanish in acquiring the present subjunctive mood. Key findings from a mixed-effects model revealed varying levels of MLK among participants, but no statistically significant effect on overall performance was observed. These results suggest that, while MLK may vary, it does not necessarily translate into improved acquisition of the present subjunctive in L3 Spanish.

Students’ language and subject learning attitudes in CLIL secondary education

ABSTRACT This study examines the attitudes of CLIL learners to both language and subject learning in the context of Madrid’s Spanish-English Bilingual Education Program. The research compared 70 students enrolled in two secondary school strands with differing CLIL exposure (high versus low) in terms of their attitudes towards the languages of instruction and their beliefs about how content subjects are taught in the L1 (Spanish) and the L2 (English). Their answers to two open-ended questions from a longer questionnaire were coded using thematic analysis. The results indicate that, whilst participation in either the high- or the low-exposure strand has an effect on students’ preferences regarding the language of instruction, it does not seem to influence their orientation towards the practical value of CLIL. In addition, students tend to attribute similarities and differences in the teaching of subjects in the L1 and the L2 to the content and to the change in language of instruction. These results are further discussed by addressing the amount of CLIL instruction across strands and by contextualising this approach in a primarily monolingual context and mindset, where certain expectations clash with fears and presuppositions concerning the effect on L1 literacy of learning in an additional language.

How do constructions with modal verbs develop in second language learners of English?

Abstract The study reported on in this paper uses data from a large, pseudolongitudinal corpus of second language (L2) learner writing to investigate how L2 knowledge of verb-argument constructions (VACs) develops from low-beginner to upper-intermediate proficiency levels. The focus is on learners from two L1 backgrounds (L1 German and L1 Spanish) and on a subset of VACs that contain modal auxiliaries in combination with lexical verbs (e.g., subject-modal-verb, as in I can cook). For each VAC, L1, and proficiency level, frequency lists of verbs were created and compared across datasets. Reference data on the same constructions was extracted from a corpus of L1 writing. Results suggest that modal VACs become more frequent, less predictable, more productive, and more aligned with L1 production as learner proficiency increases. The findings of this study help to expand our understanding of the processes that underlie L2 construction acquisition.

L2 Spanish clitics among Brazilian Portuguese-speaking learners: the predictive role of lexical knowledge

We examined the acquisition of third-person accusative clitics (e.g., lo, la, los, las) in L2 Spanish among Brazilian Portuguese (BP) speakers. In BP, the animacy of the referent is the main feature constraining accusative pronoun use while, in Spanish, animacy does not affect clitic realization. We tested Lardiere’s (2008; 2009) Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH), Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996) Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (FT/FA), and the suitability of productive vocabulary knowledge as a proxy for overall proficiency and its predictive power for the acquisition of clitics. 74 BP-speaking L2 Spanish learners and a comparison group of 23 native Spanish speakers completed a language background questionnaire, a vocabulary test (Prueba Léxica de Español y Portugués/Prova Léxica de Espanhol e Português, PLEP), an elicited production task, and an acceptability judgment task. Only the L2 Spanish participants completed the tasks in both languages. Our findings are consistent with the FRH, showing that the participants successfully disassemble animacy features from their L1 when acquiring the non-animacy-driven clitics in Spanish. However, animacy effects were found in the L2 production data but not in their receptive grammatical knowledge. Furthermore, animacy effects were not dependent on proficiency as no interactions between these factors were found, thus rejecting the existence of a full transfer stage.

Pronoun interpretation in intermediate-advanced L2 English speakers: L2 to L1 cross-linguistic effects

Aims and objectives: L2 learners who speak a null subject (L1 Spanish) and a non-null subject language (L2 English) may experience cross-linguistic interference from the L2 on L1 pronoun interpretation. In this study, we test pronoun interpretation in the L1 and L2 of adult learners, in comparison with two groups of monolingual speakers, to assess if L1 pronoun interpretation can change as a result of L2 acquisition at intermediate-advanced levels of L2 proficiency and in the absence of long L2 immersion. Methodology: A group of L2 English speakers (L1 Spanish) participated in two offline sentence comprehension tasks where they interpreted pronouns in the L1 and L2. The results are compared with English and Spanish monolingual speakers. Data and analysis: We find that adult English learners comprehend pronouns in their L1 (Spanish) differently than Spanish monolingual speakers, demonstrating a strong subject bias for interpreting null and overt pronouns. In addition, we show that pronoun interpretation patterns acquired in the L2 explain the changes to L1 interpretation biases. Conclusions: The results of this study significantly advance the understanding of the factors that contribute to bilingual language comprehension, showing the permeability of the L1 comprehension system at the discourse level as soon as the L2 sets in.

Focusing on derivational-driven cognate patterns to promote vocabulary acquisition in Spanish

Cognates have been heavily incorporated into second language (L2) vocabulary instruction as they share form and meaning across languages and have demonstrated an advantage for learning. The present article aims to measure the effects of explicit, cognate, derivational-driven instruction in L2 Spanish. 49 intermediate-low Spanish learners participated in the experiment and completed a pre- and post-lexical decision task in Spanish, followed by a language history questionnaire. 25 learners composed the explicit instruction group and 24 composed the control group. Results from a three-way ANOVA (2x4x2) analyzing reaction times and accuracy demonstrate that both explicit and control groups process cognates and non-cognates faster in the post-test. However, participants in the explicit instruction group process cognates less accurately and non-cognates more accurately in the post-test, which could be attributed to the activation of formal lexical features of the instruction intervention. Results are interpreted in light of the nature of L2 instruction and lexical representation.

Most challenging types of offline inferences for Chinese migrants when reading public notices in Spanish

Written discourse comprehension implies a complex inferential function. In this study, we analyse those inferences taking place after reading (so-called offline), known to be elaborative and complementary. Following a non-probabilistic convenience sampling, we carried out a qualitative, descriptive study with 30 Sino-speaking adult migrants living in Madrid. The POEM test (Ureña, Flores & Martín Leralta, under review) divided them in 3 equitative groups of initial, intermediate and advanced level. The objective was to identify the type of offline inferences most challenging for the participants when reading public notices in Spanish L2. The frequency of appearance in daily life of those notices and the level of proficiency were also analysed. Experts in inferences and in Spanish as a migration language validated the reading test. Results showed some relevant features of this reading profile and its didactic consequences to train the inferential skill.

The role of foreign language in the experience and emotional expression of guilt: evidence from moral scenarios and autobiographical memories of bilinguals

ABSTRACT This study investigated the influence of language – first language (L1) versus second language (L2) – on the experience and the expression of the emotion of guilt. Fifty-two Greek – Spanish bilinguals read two moral scenarios that induced guilt in their L2 (Spanish) and rated the intensity with which they felt a series of emotions (moral scenario task). Then they were asked to recall and write about a real-life event that made them feel guilty in their L2 (autobiographical memory task). A month later they performed the same tasks in their L1. Content analysis and emotional vocabulary analysis were conducted to examine cross-linguistic differences in the expression of guilt. Overall, these bilinguals experienced higher levels of guilt and regret when they read the moral scenarios in their L1 Greek. They also used a greater number of emotion words in their autobiographical memories in L1. However, they appeared to be more willing to talk about sensitive topics (e.g. infidelity, homosexuality, and death) in their L2. These findings have implications for both psychotherapy and L2 instruction.

Challenges and potential of quasi-experimental studies in cognitive linguistics applied to language teaching and learning

Abstract This review study focuses on the challenges faced when conducting effects-of-instruction research in Applied Cognitive Linguistics. It offers an overview of relevant research that has sought to demonstrate the effectiveness of a cognitive-based approach to second language (L2) pedagogy and provides illustrations from previous work in L2 Spanish by the author and colleagues of some of the factors that can influence findings in quasi-experimental research. More specifically, the study addresses some of the difficulties encountered in the design of materials and assessment tests, during the pedagogical intervention and the data collection and data analysis phases. These include choice of assessment, test effects, sample size, withdrawal, and time-on-task, among others. Along with these methodological issues, a discussion of possible solutions as well as pedagogical and methodological implications are discussed.

Predictors of accuracy in L2 Spanish preterit-imperfect production

Abstract Few studies have considered the multitude of factors that influence learners’ accuracy of past tense-aspect use in L2 Spanish. The present study fills this gap by examining course-level, task-modality, obligatory tense-aspect, and verb frequency and regularity as predictors of English-dominant learners’ accuracy in contexts that require the Spanish preterit or imperfect. Learner narrations from the COWS-L2H and CEDEL2 corpora were analyzed. Generalized mixed-effects models reveal that obligatory tense-aspect and task-modality are significant predictors of accuracy and that frequency is only a significant predictor in imperfect-obligatory contexts for students from the same Spanish program. Data from one Spanish program is interpreted as providing partial support for the Default Past Tense Hypothesis (DPTH). The findings add complexity to our understanding of the route of preterit-imperfect acquisition, showcasing plateauing effects and highlighting students’ use of the present as a default form.

The challenge of teaching Spanish L1 as pluricentric language from a critical linguistic perspective

The challenge of teaching Spanish L1 as pluricentric language from a critical linguistic perspective

The comprehension of clitic gender in child heritage and second language Spanish: evidence from a dual language program

Despite the growth of dual-language programs in the United States, few studies have examined how children acquire Spanish through immersion. This article compares how heritage speakers (HS) and English-fluent Spanish L2 learners (L2L) immersed in Spanish comprehend gender in direct object clitics, an area of Spanish grammar prone to bilingual effects. A total of 78 English-dominant children enrolled in a dual language school participated in the experiment: 24 HS (6 in 2nd grade, 10 in 4th/5th grade, 8 in 7th/8th grade) and 54 L2L (16 in 2nd grade, 20 in 4th/5th grade, 18 in 7th/8th grade). Participants completed a forced-choice task which tested their ability to select target-like clitic gender after hearing sentences such as ‘La niña está tocando la guitarra (feminine). ¿Qué hace?' The girl is playing the guitar (feminine). What does she do? * ‘Lo toca' (masculine singular clitic)/ ‘La toca' (feminine singular clitic) She plays it. Results did not reveal any significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between the HS and L2L groups with accuracy in clitic gender. We found that in receptive knowledge of masculine clitic gender, the HS and L2L children had very similar scores in the 2nd grade and showed a similar improvement in accuracy by the 7th/8th grades. However, we did not find a similar pattern of growth in children's ability to select target-like feminine gender in either group. We discuss our findings and propose possible implications for immersion programs.

L2 interactional competence in a short-term service-learning and study abroad program

Abstract This case study explores one Spanish L2 learner’s interactional competence (IC) during a short-term study abroad program that featured service-learning (SL). The goal of the study is to describe the learner’s IC in interactions in the SL context. Data for analysis derive primarily from dialogues between the focal participant and interlocutors from her SL network and are analyzed qualitatively using Young’s (2019) categories of identity, linguistic, and interactional resources. Key findings include: (a) the participant co-constructed identities as an American and a teacher with her interlocutors; (b) use of linguistic resources suggests accommodation to Peninsular Spanish, possibly heightened by increased contact with native speakers in SL; and (c) SL afforded a space where the learner felt confident trying out linguistic and interactional features. Findings describe the participant’s IC and suggest the value of the SL context for meaningful interaction in short-term study abroad programs.