Linguistic development in L2 Spanish: creation and analysis of a learner corpus
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Faculty of Humanities
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Arche, M J; Dominguez, L
(2011)
Morphology and its interfaces
Dominguez, L; Arche, M J
(2008)
Optionality in L2 Grammars: the Acquisition of SV/VS Contrast in Spanish
in BUCLD Proceedings
DomÃnguez L
(2014)
Subject inversion in non-native Spanish
in Lingua
Marsden E
(2008)
Vocabulary use during conversation: a cross-sectional study of development from year 9 to year 13 among learners of Spanish and French
in Language Learning Journal
Mitchell R
(2008)
SPLLOC: A new database for Spanish second language acquisition research
in EUROSLA Yearbook
| Description | This project developed a pioneering corpus of spoken learner Spanish and has made this available to the international research community as a public resource. The team also conducted substantive research on three main areas of the acquisition of Spanish by English L1 learners: 1. the acquisition of clitic object pronouns; 2. the acquisition of Spanish word order; and 3. the development of L2 Spanish vocabulary. 1. The acquisition of Spanish clitic object pronouns provides a useful test of whether learners can develop a full syntactic representation of a new language (as such pronouns do not exist in L1 English). Analysis of relevant language production and interpretation tasks confirmed the Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis, i.e. that learner errors in spoken Spanish are due to processing problems rather than absence of underlying syntactic representations. 2. Spanish word order is variable, and governed by both syntactic and pragmatic considerations (i.e. it is an interface phenomenon). So, these structures present an ideal scenario for investigating optionality in non-native grammars which has been previously explained as a result of deficits in the syntax-pragmatics interface. SPLLOC data were analysed to test alternative explanations for the optionality of SV/VS structures in learner Spanish. Results suggest that the availability of optional forms in L2 developing grammars are the result of an overgeneralisation of one of the options in the target language to contexts where neither syntactic nor pragmatic rules would allow them. Consequently, the optionality shown by advanced learners should be understood as an intermediate stage showing grammar restructuring, rather than a case of pragmatic deficit. 3. The availability of the new Spanish learner corpus (SPLLOC) made possible a pioneering investigation into the development of L2 vocabulary, and a comparison was made with existing French learner corpora (FLLOC).This comparative investigation has provided several key insights into lexical progression amongst school learners of French and Spanish. Results suggest that the year 13 learners used significantly more lexically and inflectionally diverse language than the Year 9 learners.year 9 learners produced a greater proportion of nouns (out of their total production) than year 13, regardless of language, and that year 13 produced a greater proportion of verbs than year 9. The proportion of verbs was also the same in French as it was in Spanish amongst learners in the same year of study (despite some differences for nouns and adjectives). This finding could support the idea that the increase in proportion of verbs, specifically, is an indicator of progression, a finding with clear implications for language assessment. |
| Exploitation Route | The Spanish learner corpus is available as a research resource for the international community of researchers on second language acquisition (SLA). The specific findings have implications for SLA theory and also for instructional and assessment practice, particularly in the relatively neglected area of second language vocabulary development. |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://www.splloc.soton.ac.uk |
| Description | Spanish is a major world language which is attracting many L2 learners internationally, including in the UK where it is the only major foreign language with increasing student numbers. This project has raised the profile of Spanish second language acquisition (SLA) research by providing a publicly available Spanish learner corpus, subsequently developed with further ESRC funding through a second project (RES-062-23-1075). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Title | SPLLOC |
| Description | The Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpora (SPLLOC) offer a collection of learner Spanish data for use by the worldwide community of researchers into second language acquisition. The corpora include extensive samples of spoken L2 Spanish at different levels. All data were collected from instructed learners with English as their L1who have learned L2 Spanish in educational contexts within the UK. Audio files are available in .wav and .mp3 formats, accompanied by transcriptions using the CHAT system (for details see http://childes.psy.cmu.edu). Full information including conditions of use are available at www.splloc.soton.ac.uk . |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2008 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The database has been used by researchers and students internationally to advance understanding of second language acquisition. |
| URL | http://www.splloc.soton.ac.uk |
| Description | Southampton seminar January 2008 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 22 academics and PG students attended a daylong seminar presenting main results of the research, with a formal respondent from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain. Further academic collaboration resulted with Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| URL | http://www.splloc.soton.ac.uk |