The acquisition of Focus in L2 Spanish
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11655692 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tania Leal Méndez (0000-0001-9653-3191, University of Nevada, Reno, corresponding author), Emilie Destruel (0000-0002-4891-0228, The University of Iowa, USA), Bradley Hoot (0000-0002-3126-5752, DePaul University) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 449-477 |
| Publication date | 2018-07-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Second language Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0267-6583 • E-ISSN: 1477-0326 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0267658318784343 |
| OpenAlex | W2883818709 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 55 |
This paper examines the strategies used by speakers of Spanish as a second language (L2) for marking Information Focus, a phenomenon found at the syntax–discourse interface. Sorace and colleagues have proposed the Interface Hypothesis, according to which the syntax–discourse interface poses unique challenges for bilinguals (Sorace, 2011). With respect to Spanish, there exists a gap between the theoretical and empirical literatures on Focus realization; the former suggests that Focus must appear in sentence-final position, yet recent experimental work challenges this claim, showing that Focus commonly remains in situ. Using a speeded production task, we compared the response patterns of L2 Spanish speakers to that of natives in order to bring additional evidence to bear on the debate. Results revealed an asymmetry: L2 learners converged with native speakers on Subject Focus but not on Object Focus, where proficiency mediated overall divergences, indicating a change toward more nativelike Focus-marking strategies over time. We discuss our findings in light of the Interface Hypothesis and existing theories of Focus marking in Spanish
Focus (optics · Interface (matter · Linguistics · Object (grammar · Phenomenon · Sentence · Syntax · Word order · Computer Science · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Object focus marking in Spanish
L2 representation and processing of Spanish focus
Second language acquisition of morphosyntactic and discourse functions of case markers in Korean
Crosslinguistic influence from Catalan and Yucatec Maya on judgments and processing of Spanish focus
Who did what to whom, and what did we already know
Word order and information structure in heritage and L2 Russian
Testing L1 effects in L2 interface acquisition
Subject position and verb class in L2 Greek and L2 Spanish
Interaction between syntactic and information structure in the second language processing of Korean dative sentences
The effects of information structure in the processing of word order variation in the second language
Interface challenges in online processing
The Role of Prosody and Morphology in the Mapping of Information Structure onto Syntax
Foundations of Language
Types of Focus in English
Interface Strategies
Meaning in the Second Language
A Derivational Syntax for Information Structure
Focus in Generative Grammar
On the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables.
The Cost of Dichotomization
Gender and number agreement in nonnative Spanish
Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers
Derivation by Phase
The syntax–discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition
The Fine Structure of the Left Periphery
Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4
Information Structure and Sentence Form
The Modularity of Mind
Fokus im Spannungsfeld von Phonologie und Syntax
Subject/object-asymmetry in Northern Sotho
The Interface Hypothesis
Extended patterns and computational complexity
Which features are at the syntax–pragmatics interface
The realization of information focus in monolingual and bilingual native Spanish
Interfaces and Processing
Loose ends? Commentary on Sorace
Narrow presentational focus in heritage Spanish and the syntax‒discourse interface
Prosodic prominence in Argentinian Spanish
Lexical and discourse factors in the second language acquisition of Spanish word order
Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition
Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian
Inhibitive and facilitative priming induced by traces in the processing of wh -dependencies in a second language
Contrastive focus vs. discourse-new
The grammatical expression of focus in West Chadic
Contrastive focus and emphasis
Grammatical gender in L2
Pinning down the concept of "interface" in bilingualism
Internal and external interfaces in bilingual language development
A more careful look at the syntax-discourse interface
The Mind-Context Divide
A theory of focus interpretation
Subject inversion in non-native Spanish
Discourse conditions on subject pronoun realization
Second language acquisition at the interfaces
Focus and the exclusion of alternatives
Identificational Focus versus Information Focus
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |