Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The syntax-semantics of bare and definite plural subjects in the L2 Spanish of English natives
AU - Cuza, Alejandro
AU - Guijarro-Fuentes, Pedro
AU - Pires, Acrisio
AU - Rothman, Jason
PY - 2013/10/31
Y1 - 2013/10/31
N2 - This study investigates the extent to which advanced native-English L2 learners of Spanish come to acquire restrictions on bare plural preverbal subjects in L2 Spanish (e.g. gatos "cats" vs. definite plurals such as los gatos "the cats"). It tests L2 knowledge of available semantic readings of bare plurals and definite plurals in Spanish, where [+specific] and [+generic] interpretations are syntactically represented differently from English. Assuming L1 transfer, and in view of a potential subset/superset relationship of the two grammars, the learning task in this domain is not a straightforward one. Target acquisition requires both grammatical expansion and retraction; Spanish definite plural subjects require the addition of an L1-unavailable [+generic] reading, while a loss of an L1-available [+generic] reading for preverbal subject bare plurals is required. The results and analysis show that advanced L2 learners of Spanish (English L1) can circumvent a superficial subset/superset learnability problem by means of feature resetting in line with the Nominal Mapping Parameter.
AB - This study investigates the extent to which advanced native-English L2 learners of Spanish come to acquire restrictions on bare plural preverbal subjects in L2 Spanish (e.g. gatos "cats" vs. definite plurals such as los gatos "the cats"). It tests L2 knowledge of available semantic readings of bare plurals and definite plurals in Spanish, where [+specific] and [+generic] interpretations are syntactically represented differently from English. Assuming L1 transfer, and in view of a potential subset/superset relationship of the two grammars, the learning task in this domain is not a straightforward one. Target acquisition requires both grammatical expansion and retraction; Spanish definite plural subjects require the addition of an L1-unavailable [+generic] reading, while a loss of an L1-available [+generic] reading for preverbal subject bare plurals is required. The results and analysis show that advanced L2 learners of Spanish (English L1) can circumvent a superficial subset/superset learnability problem by means of feature resetting in line with the Nominal Mapping Parameter.
KW - Bare nominals
KW - definite plural subjects
KW - Full Transfer/Full Access
KW - L1 transfer
KW - Spanish L2 acquisition
KW - Subset/Superset Principle
U2 - 10.1177/1367006911435594
DO - 10.1177/1367006911435594
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84884480899
VL - 17
SP - 634
EP - 652
JO - International Journal of Bilingualism
JF - International Journal of Bilingualism
SN - 1367-0069
IS - 5
ER -