Jennifer Cabrelli
Biographic Data
| ID | 2467694 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jennifer Cabrelli |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jennifer |
| FAMILY NAME | Cabrelli |
| SIGNATURE | CABRELLI J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Illinois Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7139-740X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 52 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
From L2 acquisition to L1 restructuring: Phonotactics in perception and production
Introduction Research on first-language (L1) perceptual attrition indicates that second-language (L2) learners can acquire syllabic structures that are dispreferred in the L1 and that such acquisition can yield L1 phonotactic restructuring in phonetic and phonological processing and production. In the current study, we examine the production of coda stops in the L1, Brazilian Portuguese, and the adult L2, English, of a bilingual sample of speaker…
Language change in Japanese–English bilingual returnee children over the course of five years: Evidence from accent-rating
Few studies have examined global foreign accent (GFA) in bilingual children, and little is known about how GFA changes over time and what factors determine change. Here, we examine GFA trajectories in Japanese–English bilingual returnees (Japanese children who returned to Japan after having lived in a majority English environment for several years). In two accent-rating tasks, first language (L1) speakers of English or Japanese rated returnee spe…
Factors that moderate global similarity in initial L3 transfer: Intervocalic voiced stops in heritage Spanish/English bilinguals’ L3 Italian
Much of the formal linguistic research on third language (L3) acquisition has focused on transfer source selection, with the overall finding that (global) structural similarity between the L1/L2 and L3 is the strongest predictor of initial transfer patterns. Recently, Cabrelli and Pichan (2021) reported data from the production of underlyingly intervocalic voiced stops in L3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and L3 Italian that highlight the notion that …
Why do learners overcome non-facilitative transfer faster from an L2 than an L1? The cumulative input threshold hypothesis
While formal L3 morphosyntactic acquisition research has focused on the roles of the L1 versus L2 during the L3 initial stages, we examine their roles during development. Specifically, we explore whether the L3 (here, Portuguese) revision process after non-facilitative transfer differs whether the initial L3 representation reflects the L1 or L2. If this initial L3 representation is the same for a group whose source is their L1 and a group whose s…
Initial phonological transfer in L3 Brazilian Portuguese and Italian
This study examines five variables posited to drive(s) initial phonological transfer of (part of) one system over another in an L 3 : language status (L 1 /L 2 ), facilitation, global structural similarity, dominance, and bilingual experience. Specifically, we investigate production of intervocalic voiced stops by English/Spanish bilinguals at the initial stages of L 3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) or Italian. These segments surface as [−continuant] …
Clitic-doubled left dislocation in L2 Spanish: The effect of processing load at the syntax-discourse interface
This project examines whether second-language (L2) learners can converge on a native-like pattern at the interface between syntax and discourse under low and high processing pressure, using Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) as a test case. The original version of the Interface Hypothesis (IH) predicts that L2 competence on syntax-discourse interface structures may diverge from that of L1 speakers , yet there is experimental evidence …
Theoretical and methodological considerations for a robust evaluation of the Linguistic Proximity Model
When we think of the debates surrounding linguistic transfer in L3 acquisition, one of the most prominent discussions concerns whether transfer occurs in a wholesale fashion or whether it is property-by-property. One such model is the Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM, Mykhaylyk et al., 2015; Westergaard et al., 2017; Westergaard, 2021), which maintains that transfer is property-by-property, with what Westergaard refers to as Full Transfer Potentia…
Shared or Separate Representations? The Spanish Palatal Nasal in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals
The purpose of this study is to examine phonetic interactions in early Spanish/English bilinguals to see if they have established a representation for the Spanish palatal nasal /ɲ/ (e.g., /kaɲon/ cañón 'canyon') that is separate from the similar, yet acoustically distinct English /n+j/ sequence (e.g., /kænjn̩/ 'canyon'). Twenty heritage speakers of Spanish completed a delayed repetition task in each language, in which a set of disyllabic nonce wo…
Clitic-Doubled Left Dislocation in Heritage Spanish: Judgment versus Production Data
This project examines whether heritage speakers of Spanish distinguish when Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) is discursively appropriate via an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and a speeded production task (SPT). This two-task experimental design is intended to determine whether heritage speakers diverge from an L1 Spanish/L2 English baseline and, if so, whether such divergence is due to their grammatical knowledge, processing con…
Plotting individual learning trajectories in the acquisition of L2 prosodic constraints
Preview this article: Plotting individual learning trajectories in the acquisition of L2 prosodic constraints, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.19065.cab-1.gif
Influence of L2 English phonotactics in L1 Brazilian Portuguese illusory vowel perception
The Impact of Portuguese on the Study of Third Language Acquisition
Over the last several years, we have been witness to a growing body of work that examines the acquisition of Portuguese as a third language (L3). Here in the United States, Spanish speakers account for 45% of students enrolled in Portuguese classes (Milleret 2012), divided among first language (L1) Spanish speakers, second language (L2) Spanish speakers, and heritage speakers. While these three groups are all speakers of English and Spanish, they…
L3 morphosyntactic effects on L1 vs. L2 systems: The Differential Stability Hypothesis
This study investigates the extent to which L1 versus adult L2 syntactic systems resist influence from a third language (L3) via observation of the effect of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) on Spanish in L1 Spanish/L2 English and L1 English/L2 Spanish bilinguals that are advanced L3 BP speakers. We examine the phenomenon of raising across a dative experiencer out of a TP complement (TPExp), which is acceptable in BP and English but not Spanish. Spanish…
Testing the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis: L3 phonological effects on L1 versus L2 systems
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We investigate the extent to which L1 versus adult L2 phonological systems resist influence from an L3. We test the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis (Cabrelli Amaro & Rothman, 2010), which states that adult L2 phonological systems are different from L1 systems with regards to instability. Design/Methodology/Approach: To isolate the variable of age of acquisition, we examined the acquisition of L…
The role of prosodic structure in the L2 acquisition of Spanish stop lenition
This study tests the hypothesis that late first-language English / second-language Spanish learners (L1 English / L2 Spanish learners) acquire spirantization in stages according to the prosodic hierarchy (Zampini, 1997, 1998). In Spanish, voiced stops [b d g] surface after a pause or nasal stop, and continuants [β̞ ð̞ ɣ̞] surface postvocalically, among other contexts. We adopt an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the phenomenon that assumes that p…
Regular and Novel Metonymy: Can You Curl up with a Good Agatha Christie in Your Second Language?
This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks investigating the acceptability of unconventional and conventional metonymy by native speakers of Korean and Spanish who speak English as a second language. We are interested in discovering whether learners differentiate between conventional and unconventional metonymy, and whether the acceptability of metonymic expressions in the native language has an effect on learners’ judgment…
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
Regular and Novel Metonymy in Native Korean, Spanish, and English: Experimental Evidence for Various Acceptability
This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks, investigating the acceptability of novel and regular metonymy by speakers of English, Korean, and Spanish. We are interested in uncovering regular–novel metonymy computation discrepancies, and whether they are treated differently in the different languages. The distinction between novel and regular metonymy is discussed by the existing theoretical treatments of metonymy as well as…
Methodological Issues in L3 Phonology
The design and implementation of a meticulously developed methodology is the foundation of empirical research, as it allows the researcher to collect data and answer a research question in a logical and systematic way, while controlling for myriad possible intervening variables. In the field of second language phonology, there are several macro issues that surface in discussions of procedure and best practices, including the selection of particip…
Third language acquisition in adulthood
What variables condition syntactic transfer? A look at the L3 initial state
This study investigates transfer at the third-language (L3) initial state, testing between the following possibilities: (1) the first language (L1) transfer hypothesis (an L1 effect for all adult acquisition), (2) the second language (L2) transfer hypothesis, where the L2 blocks L1 transfer (often referred to in the recent literature as the ‘L2 status factor’; Williams and Hammarberg, 1998), and (3) the Cumulative Enhancement Model (Flynn et al.,…
What variables condition syntactic transfer? A look at the L3 initial state
This study investigates transfer at the third-language (L3) initial state, testing between the following possibilities: (1) the first language (L1) transfer hypothesis (an L1 effect for all adult acquisition), (2) the second language (L2) transfer hypothesis, where the L2 blocks L1 transfer (often referred to in the recent literature as the ‘L2 status factor’; Williams and Hammarberg, 1998), and (3) the Cumulative Enhancement Model (Flynn et al.,…
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
Influence of L2 English phonotactics in L1 Brazilian Portuguese illusory vowel perception
The role of prosodic structure in the L2 acquisition of Spanish stop lenition
This study tests the hypothesis that late first-language English / second-language Spanish learners (L1 English / L2 Spanish learners) acquire spirantization in stages according to the prosodic hierarchy (Zampini, 1997, 1998). In Spanish, voiced stops [b d g] surface after a pause or nasal stop, and continuants [β̞ ð̞ ɣ̞] surface postvocalically, among other contexts. We adopt an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the phenomenon that assumes that p…
Why do learners overcome non-facilitative transfer faster from an L2 than an L1? The cumulative input threshold hypothesis
While formal L3 morphosyntactic acquisition research has focused on the roles of the L1 versus L2 during the L3 initial stages, we examine their roles during development. Specifically, we explore whether the L3 (here, Portuguese) revision process after non-facilitative transfer differs whether the initial L3 representation reflects the L1 or L2. If this initial L3 representation is the same for a group whose source is their L1 and a group whose s…
Theoretical and methodological considerations for a robust evaluation of the Linguistic Proximity Model
When we think of the debates surrounding linguistic transfer in L3 acquisition, one of the most prominent discussions concerns whether transfer occurs in a wholesale fashion or whether it is property-by-property. One such model is the Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM, Mykhaylyk et al., 2015; Westergaard et al., 2017; Westergaard, 2021), which maintains that transfer is property-by-property, with what Westergaard refers to as Full Transfer Potentia…
Clitic-Doubled Left Dislocation in Heritage Spanish: Judgment versus Production Data
This project examines whether heritage speakers of Spanish distinguish when Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) is discursively appropriate via an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and a speeded production task (SPT). This two-task experimental design is intended to determine whether heritage speakers diverge from an L1 Spanish/L2 English baseline and, if so, whether such divergence is due to their grammatical knowledge, processing con…
Language change in Japanese–English bilingual returnee children over the course of five years: Evidence from accent-rating
Few studies have examined global foreign accent (GFA) in bilingual children, and little is known about how GFA changes over time and what factors determine change. Here, we examine GFA trajectories in Japanese–English bilingual returnees (Japanese children who returned to Japan after having lived in a majority English environment for several years). In two accent-rating tasks, first language (L1) speakers of English or Japanese rated returnee spe…
Shared or Separate Representations? The Spanish Palatal Nasal in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals
The purpose of this study is to examine phonetic interactions in early Spanish/English bilinguals to see if they have established a representation for the Spanish palatal nasal /ɲ/ (e.g., /kaɲon/ cañón 'canyon') that is separate from the similar, yet acoustically distinct English /n+j/ sequence (e.g., /kænjn̩/ 'canyon'). Twenty heritage speakers of Spanish completed a delayed repetition task in each language, in which a set of disyllabic nonce wo…
What variables condition syntactic transfer? A look at the L3 initial state
This study investigates transfer at the third-language (L3) initial state, testing between the following possibilities: (1) the first language (L1) transfer hypothesis (an L1 effect for all adult acquisition), (2) the second language (L2) transfer hypothesis, where the L2 blocks L1 transfer (often referred to in the recent literature as the ‘L2 status factor’; Williams and Hammarberg, 1998), and (3) the Cumulative Enhancement Model (Flynn et al.,…
Third language acquisition in adulthood
Regular and Novel Metonymy in Native Korean, Spanish, and English: Experimental Evidence for Various Acceptability
This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks, investigating the acceptability of novel and regular metonymy by speakers of English, Korean, and Spanish. We are interested in uncovering regular–novel metonymy computation discrepancies, and whether they are treated differently in the different languages. The distinction between novel and regular metonymy is discussed by the existing theoretical treatments of metonymy as well as…
Methodological Issues in L3 Phonology
The design and implementation of a meticulously developed methodology is the foundation of empirical research, as it allows the researcher to collect data and answer a research question in a logical and systematic way, while controlling for myriad possible intervening variables. In the field of second language phonology, there are several macro issues that surface in discussions of procedure and best practices, including the selection of particip…
Regular and Novel Metonymy: Can You Curl up with a Good Agatha Christie in Your Second Language?
This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks investigating the acceptability of unconventional and conventional metonymy by native speakers of Korean and Spanish who speak English as a second language. We are interested in discovering whether learners differentiate between conventional and unconventional metonymy, and whether the acceptability of metonymic expressions in the native language has an effect on learners’ judgment…
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
Investigating the acquisition of phonology in a third language – a state of the science and an outlook for the future
L3 morphosyntactic effects on L1 vs. L2 systems: The Differential Stability Hypothesis
This study investigates the extent to which L1 versus adult L2 syntactic systems resist influence from a third language (L3) via observation of the effect of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) on Spanish in L1 Spanish/L2 English and L1 English/L2 Spanish bilinguals that are advanced L3 BP speakers. We examine the phenomenon of raising across a dative experiencer out of a TP complement (TPExp), which is acceptable in BP and English but not Spanish. Spanish…
Testing the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis: L3 phonological effects on L1 versus L2 systems
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We investigate the extent to which L1 versus adult L2 phonological systems resist influence from an L3. We test the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis (Cabrelli Amaro & Rothman, 2010), which states that adult L2 phonological systems are different from L1 systems with regards to instability. Design/Methodology/Approach: To isolate the variable of age of acquisition, we examined the acquisition of L…
The role of prosodic structure in the L2 acquisition of Spanish stop lenition
This study tests the hypothesis that late first-language English / second-language Spanish learners (L1 English / L2 Spanish learners) acquire spirantization in stages according to the prosodic hierarchy (Zampini, 1997, 1998). In Spanish, voiced stops [b d g] surface after a pause or nasal stop, and continuants [β̞ ð̞ ɣ̞] surface postvocalically, among other contexts. We adopt an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the phenomenon that assumes that p…
The Impact of Portuguese on the Study of Third Language Acquisition
Over the last several years, we have been witness to a growing body of work that examines the acquisition of Portuguese as a third language (L3). Here in the United States, Spanish speakers account for 45% of students enrolled in Portuguese classes (Milleret 2012), divided among first language (L1) Spanish speakers, second language (L2) Spanish speakers, and heritage speakers. While these three groups are all speakers of English and Spanish, they…
Plotting individual learning trajectories in the acquisition of L2 prosodic constraints
Preview this article: Plotting individual learning trajectories in the acquisition of L2 prosodic constraints, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/lab.19065.cab-1.gif
Influence of L2 English phonotactics in L1 Brazilian Portuguese illusory vowel perception
Clitic-doubled left dislocation in L2 Spanish: The effect of processing load at the syntax-discourse interface
This project examines whether second-language (L2) learners can converge on a native-like pattern at the interface between syntax and discourse under low and high processing pressure, using Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) as a test case. The original version of the Interface Hypothesis (IH) predicts that L2 competence on syntax-discourse interface structures may diverge from that of L1 speakers , yet there is experimental evidence …
Theoretical and methodological considerations for a robust evaluation of the Linguistic Proximity Model
When we think of the debates surrounding linguistic transfer in L3 acquisition, one of the most prominent discussions concerns whether transfer occurs in a wholesale fashion or whether it is property-by-property. One such model is the Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM, Mykhaylyk et al., 2015; Westergaard et al., 2017; Westergaard, 2021), which maintains that transfer is property-by-property, with what Westergaard refers to as Full Transfer Potentia…
Shared or Separate Representations? The Spanish Palatal Nasal in Early Spanish/English Bilinguals
The purpose of this study is to examine phonetic interactions in early Spanish/English bilinguals to see if they have established a representation for the Spanish palatal nasal /ɲ/ (e.g., /kaɲon/ cañón 'canyon') that is separate from the similar, yet acoustically distinct English /n+j/ sequence (e.g., /kænjn̩/ 'canyon'). Twenty heritage speakers of Spanish completed a delayed repetition task in each language, in which a set of disyllabic nonce wo…
Clitic-Doubled Left Dislocation in Heritage Spanish: Judgment versus Production Data
This project examines whether heritage speakers of Spanish distinguish when Spanish clitic-doubled left dislocation (CLLD) is discursively appropriate via an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and a speeded production task (SPT). This two-task experimental design is intended to determine whether heritage speakers diverge from an L1 Spanish/L2 English baseline and, if so, whether such divergence is due to their grammatical knowledge, processing con…
Initial phonological transfer in L3 Brazilian Portuguese and Italian
This study examines five variables posited to drive(s) initial phonological transfer of (part of) one system over another in an L 3 : language status (L 1 /L 2 ), facilitation, global structural similarity, dominance, and bilingual experience. Specifically, we investigate production of intervocalic voiced stops by English/Spanish bilinguals at the initial stages of L 3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) or Italian. These segments surface as [−continuant] …
Factors that moderate global similarity in initial L3 transfer: Intervocalic voiced stops in heritage Spanish/English bilinguals’ L3 Italian
Much of the formal linguistic research on third language (L3) acquisition has focused on transfer source selection, with the overall finding that (global) structural similarity between the L1/L2 and L3 is the strongest predictor of initial transfer patterns. Recently, Cabrelli and Pichan (2021) reported data from the production of underlyingly intervocalic voiced stops in L3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and L3 Italian that highlight the notion that …
Why do learners overcome non-facilitative transfer faster from an L2 than an L1? The cumulative input threshold hypothesis
While formal L3 morphosyntactic acquisition research has focused on the roles of the L1 versus L2 during the L3 initial stages, we examine their roles during development. Specifically, we explore whether the L3 (here, Portuguese) revision process after non-facilitative transfer differs whether the initial L3 representation reflects the L1 or L2. If this initial L3 representation is the same for a group whose source is their L1 and a group whose s…
Language change in Japanese–English bilingual returnee children over the course of five years: Evidence from accent-rating
Few studies have examined global foreign accent (GFA) in bilingual children, and little is known about how GFA changes over time and what factors determine change. Here, we examine GFA trajectories in Japanese–English bilingual returnees (Japanese children who returned to Japan after having lived in a majority English environment for several years). In two accent-rating tasks, first language (L1) speakers of English or Japanese rated returnee spe…
From L2 acquisition to L1 restructuring: Phonotactics in perception and production
Introduction Research on first-language (L1) perceptual attrition indicates that second-language (L2) learners can acquire syllabic structures that are dispreferred in the L1 and that such acquisition can yield L1 phonotactic restructuring in phonetic and phonological processing and production. In the current study, we examine the production of coda stops in the L1, Brazilian Portuguese, and the adult L2, English, of a bilingual sample of speaker…
Linguistics (19 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (13 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Language Development and Disorders (10 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (6 works) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (6 works) · Portuguese (6 works)