Roumyana Slabakova
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 1453394 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Roumyana Slabakova |
| PRENOMES | Roumyana |
| SOBRENOME | Slabakova |
| ASSINATURA | SLABAKOVA R |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Southampton |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5839-460X |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 44 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 126 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 45 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1997 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Is it time to discard the concept of wholesale transfer in third language acquisition? A critical commentary on González Alonso et al., 2025
In this brief research note, we would like to take issue with a recent paper by Gonzalez Alonso and colleagues [González Alonso, J., Bernabeu, P., Silva, G., DeLuca, V., Poch, C., Ivanova, I., & Rothman, J. (2025). Starting from the very beginning: Unraveling third language (L3) development with longitudinal data from artificial language learning and EEG. International Journal of Multilingualism, https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2024.2415993], wh…
Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
As a cognitive theory of second language acquisition (SLA), generative SLA describes and explains the system of implicit second language (L2) knowledge as represented in the mind/brain of the learner. The logical problem of second language acquisition has powered the approach since the 1980s. It was noticed that, just like children acquiring their mother tongue, L2 learners also acquire linguistic knowledge that does not appear to come directly f…
Interpretation of null arguments in L3 acquisition of Japanese
In the UG-based framework of third language acquisition research, there has been limited investigation into the acquisition of East Asian languages compared to European languages. This paper focuses on the acquisition of East Asian languages, specifically examining interpretation of null arguments in Japanese. By taking into account the variation in agreement across languages, it is possible to predict how learners interpret null arguments in Jap…
Singular NPs and the expression of genericity in Norwegian
This paper explores the capacity of singular noun phrases (NPs) to express genericity in Norwegian, examining how definite, indefinite, and bare singular forms map onto generic meanings. A timed acceptability judgment task was used to investigate how each form correlates with generic expressions, delving into the subtleties of their usage in native language. Thirty-three Norwegian native speakers completed the study. Our results indicate that all…
The role of accentedness in acceptability judgements in L3 Norwegian
Foreign-accented speech has been explored from various perspectives, yet the current study is one of the first to investigate the role of accentedness in relation to acceptability judgements in multilingual acquisition. We consider possible interactions of two domains, phonology and syntax, by presenting learners of L3 Norwegian with an Acceptability Judgement Task focusing on eight morphosyntactic properties. Stimuli were recorded with Polish, E…
Acquisition of genericity in L2 English
This study explores the acquisition of genericity in English as a second language (L2) by analysing judgments of singular noun phrases' acceptability across generic contexts. We sampled three groups acquiring L2 English: L1-Norwegian L2-English learners, L1-Polish L2-English learners (bilingual group), and L1 Polish L2 English learners also acquiring Norwegian as a third language (multilingual group). Our findings confirm a selective effect of na…
Null and overt pronoun interpretation in L2 Mandarin resultative constructions
This experimental study examines the acquisition of null and overt pronoun interpretations in Chinese as a second language by native speakers of English. A linguistic phenomenon not present in the native language of the learners is identified: the null element in the embedded subject position of Mandarin resultative constructions can only refer to the main-clause subject, while an overt pronoun in the same position can refer both to the main-clau…
Does Full Transfer Endure in L3A
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Processing similarities between native speakers and non-balanced bilinguals
Aims and objectives: The study investigates human sentence processing and argues that information from multiple sources is considered equally in native and non-native languages. Non-syntactic information does not overrule the parsing decisions prompted by syntactic cues. Methodology: The experiment used ambiguous relative clauses (RC) in a self-paced reading task with 20 native and 45 non-native adult speakers of English and Russian. The software…
Crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition across linguistic modules
In this study, we investigated crosslinguistic influence (CLI) at developmental stages of third language (L3) acquisition of English by Russian–Norwegian children (N = 31). We tested seven linguistic properties within three linguistic modules (morphology, syntax and syntax-semantics). We compared the L3 learners to Norwegian (N = 90) and Russian (N = 74) second language (L2) learners of English. We predicted simultaneous facilitative and non-faci…
L2 Knowledge of the Obligatory French Subjunctive
Extensive research has shown that second language (L2) learners find it difficult to apply grammatical knowledge during real-time processing, especially when differences exist between the first (L1) and L2. The current study examines the extent to which British English-speaking learners of French can apply their grammatical knowledge of the French subjunctive during real-time processing, and whether this ability is modulated by the properties of …
The Bottleneck Hypothesis in L2 acquisition
The Bottleneck Hypothesis (Slabakova, 2008, 2013) proposes that acquiring properties of the functional morphology is the most challenging part of learning a second language. In the experiment presented here, the predictions of this hypothesis are tested in the second language (L2) English of Norwegian native speakers. Two constructions are investigated that do not match in English and Norwegian: One involving functional morphology, subject–verb (…
L3 Sentence Processing
The article investigates non-native sentence processing and examines the existing scholarly approaches to L2 processing with a population of L3 learners of English, whose native language is Russian. In a self-paced reading experiment, native speakers of Russian and English, as well as (low) intermediate L3 learners of English, read ambiguous relative clauses (RC) and decided on their attachment interpretation: high attachment (HA) or low attachme…
Back to our roots
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L2 semantics from a formal linguistic perspective
Ever since Aristotle and Plato ( The Categories; Cratylus ), linguists have considered language to be the pairing of form (sounds or gestures or written strings) and meaning. This is true for all meaningful linguistic units from morphemes, through words, phrases and sentences, to discourse. Generally speaking, semantics is the study of how form and meaning are related. However, semantics is more narrowly construed as excluding those meanings that…
Multisite Replication in Second Language Acquisition Research
We conducted a multisite replication study with aspects of preregistration in order to explore the feasibility of such an approach in second language (L2) research. To this end, we addressed open questions in a line of research that has examined whether having learners attend to form while reading or listening to a L2 passage interferes with comprehension. Our results are consistent with findings from the specific paradigm that we replicated in t…
Testing the current models of third language acquisition
Abstract In this chapter, we argue that another factor should be brought into the general picture of third and additional language acquisition: the comprehensible linguistic input. Predictions of current models have been predominantly based on the cognitive-psychological prominence of the three languages (native or not, adult-onset or not, naturalistic or instructed, proficient or not) as well as on the structural linguistic properties to be acqu…
The scalpel model of third language acquisition
Aims and Objectives: This article proposes the “scalpel model,” a new model of third and additional language (L3/Ln) acquisition. The model aims to identify and examine what happens beyond the initial state of acquisition and what factors may influence change from one state of knowledge to another. Methodology: The article briefly examines the currently proposed hypotheses and models and evaluates the existing evidence for their predictions. It h…
Regular and Novel Metonymy
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…
A Feature-based Contrastive Approach to the L2 Acquisition of Specificity
This study examined the acquisition of the Russian indefinite determiners (kakoj-to ‘which-to’ and kakoj-nibud’ ‘which-nibud’’) encoding scopal specificity by English and Korean native speakers within the feature-based contrastive framework (Lardiere 2008, 2009). The specificity markers kakoj-to and kakoj-nibud’ are reflections of different values of three major nominal features: definiteness, scopal specificity, and referentiality. The learning …
Rumors of UG's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Debate and discussion are crucial for the advancement of our fields in order to understand the phenomena we seek to explain. When these debates are cast from an adversarial position, the value of the discussion is lost. In this sense, we are disappointed by the acrimony of de Bot’s reaction to our Forum essay. Most of his points, even those he characterizes as ‘beyond doubt’, are anecdotal and subjectively selected, whereas others are plainly wro…
Object drop in L3 acquisition
The topic of cross-linguistic differences regarding the overt or null expression of arguments has been considered both in first (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition. There is abundant literature on both subject and object drop with different language pairings but the issue has not been considered in third language (L3) acquisition. The main goal of this article is to analyse the L3 interlanguage of Basque-Spanish bilinguals regarding the acc…
Discourse-sensitive clitic-doubled dislocations in heritage Spanish
We Have Moved On
In this Forum piece, we address several common misunderstandings of the generative L2A framework that are current in the wider L2A literature. Many of these misunderstandings stem from proposals that, although tested and eventually discarded, are still cited as though they were still accepted and in active use. We hope that by addressing four of the most persistent myths, we can persuade the wider L2A field to let them go and move on. By highligh…
The Interpretability Hypothesis again
Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou (2007) propose the Interpretability Hypothesis (IH), according to which uninterpretable features present an insurmountable difficulty in adult second language acquisition. The experimental study supporting the IH examines Greek native speakers’ knowledge of gaps versus resumptive pronouns in English wh-movement. A crucial assumption is that Greek allows resumptives optionally. Alexopoulou and Keller’s (2002, 2007) find…
A more careful look at the syntax-discourse interface
Multisite Replication in Second Language Acquisition Research
We conducted a multisite replication study with aspects of preregistration in order to explore the feasibility of such an approach in second language (L2) research. To this end, we addressed open questions in a line of research that has examined whether having learners attend to form while reading or listening to a L2 passage interferes with comprehension. Our results are consistent with findings from the specific paradigm that we replicated in t…
Clitic-doubled left dislocation and focus fronting in L2 Spanish
This experimental study tests the Interface Hypothesis by looking into processes at the syntax–discourse interface, teasing apart acquisition of syntactic, semantic and discourse knowledge. Adopting López’s (2009) pragmatic features [±a(naphor)] and [±c(ontrast)], which in combination account for the constructions of dislocation and fronting, we tested clitic left dislocation and fronted focus in the comprehension of English native speakers learn…
Scalar implicatures in second language acquisition
The Mind-Context Divide
Features or parameters
While agreeing with Lardiere that the `parameter-resetting' approach to understanding second language acquisition (SLA) needs rethinking, it is suggested that a more construction-based perspective runs the risk of losing deductive and explanatory power. An alternative is to investigate the constraints on feature assembly/re-assembly in second language (L2) grammars. A model of grammatical organization is adopted from Ramchand and Svenonius (2008)…
Discourse-sensitive clitic-doubled dislocations in heritage Spanish
Semantic evidence for functional categories in interlanguage grammars
This study investigates how semantic properties of functional categories are acquired by second language (L2) learners in an instructional setting. The following properties of the functional category (FC) of AspectP are under investigation: 1) English simple present tense cannot denote an ongoing event; 2) progressive morphology is needed for an ongoing interpretation; and 3) English bare verbal forms denote closed, or completed, events. All thre…
The parameter of aspect in second language acquisition
The goal of this article is to present a detailed study of the second language acquisition (SLA) of English aspect by native speakers of Slavic languages. A parameterized distinction between English and Slavic aspect accounts for the subtle differences between English and Slavic telic and atelic sentences. Based on a syntax-theoretical treatment of aspect, the article investigates the process of SLA of aspect in Slavic speakers at three levels of…
Is there a critical period for semantics
This article reviews recent research on the second language acquisition of meaning with a view of establishing whether there is a critical period for the acquisition of compositional semantics. It is claimed that the functional lexicon presents the most formidable challenge, while syntax and phrasal semantics pose less difficulty to learners. Findings from the neurofunctional imaging (PET, fMRI) and electrophysiology (ERPs) of L2 comprehension ar…
Learnability in the second language acquisition of semantics
The study investigates the relationship between input, UG (Universal Grammar) parameter values, and the native language in the acquisition of a purely semantic property that is superficially unrelated to its syntactic trigger, The Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi, 1991; 1994; 1996; 2001; 2005). On the one hand, English and Italian bare nouns have identical syntactic form and distribution, but differ in available interpretations. On the…
Crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition across linguistic modules
In this study, we investigated crosslinguistic influence (CLI) at developmental stages of third language (L3) acquisition of English by Russian–Norwegian children (N = 31). We tested seven linguistic properties within three linguistic modules (morphology, syntax and syntax-semantics). We compared the L3 learners to Norwegian (N = 90) and Russian (N = 74) second language (L2) learners of English. We predicted simultaneous facilitative and non-faci…
Bulgarian preverbs
This paper argues for a syntactic approach to aspectuality, where semantic information about subevent structure is incorporated into the phrase marker. Such an approach would be justified only if aspectual properties present syntactic as well as semantic effects. It is the aim of the paper to present evidence of such syntactic effects. Slavic preverbs have standardly been regarded as perfectivizing (or telicity-marking) morphemes. It will be argu…
The Bottleneck Hypothesis in L2 acquisition
The Bottleneck Hypothesis (Slabakova, 2008, 2013) proposes that acquiring properties of the functional morphology is the most challenging part of learning a second language. In the experiment presented here, the predictions of this hypothesis are tested in the second language (L2) English of Norwegian native speakers. Two constructions are investigated that do not match in English and Norwegian: One involving functional morphology, subject–verb (…
Interpreting definiteness in a second language without articles
This article investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of two expressions of the semantic feature [definite] in Russian, a language without articles, by English and Korean native speakers. Within the Feature Reassembly approach (Lardiere, 2009), Slabakova (2009) has argued that reassembling features that are represented overtly in the first language (L1) and mapping them onto those that are encoded indirectly, or covertly, in the L2 will …
L3 Sentence Processing
The article investigates non-native sentence processing and examines the existing scholarly approaches to L2 processing with a population of L3 learners of English, whose native language is Russian. In a self-paced reading experiment, native speakers of Russian and English, as well as (low) intermediate L3 learners of English, read ambiguous relative clauses (RC) and decided on their attachment interpretation: high attachment (HA) or low attachme…
L1 transfer revisited
Article L1 transfer revisited: the L2 acquisition of telicity marking in English by Spanish and Bulgarian native speakers was published on October 23, 2000 in the journal Linguistics (volume 38, issue 4)
How is inflectional morphology learned
This article considers recent explanations of variability in the second language (L2) comprehension of inflectional morphology. The predictions of five accounts are spelled out: the emergentist account, the Feature Assembly Hypothesis, the Contextual Complexity Hypothesis, the Morphological Underspecification Hypothesis and the Combinatorial Variability Hypothesis. These predictions are checked against the results of an experimental study on the …
Bulgarian preverbs
This paper argues for a syntactic approach to aspectuality, where semantic information about subevent structure is incorporated into the phrase marker. Such an approach would be justified only if aspectual properties present syntactic as well as semantic effects. It is the aim of the paper to present evidence of such syntactic effects. Slavic preverbs have standardly been regarded as perfectivizing (or telicity-marking) morphemes. It will be argu…
The parameter of aspect in second language acquisition
The goal of this article is to present a detailed study of the second language acquisition (SLA) of English aspect by native speakers of Slavic languages. A parameterized distinction between English and Slavic aspect accounts for the subtle differences between English and Slavic telic and atelic sentences. Based on a syntax-theoretical treatment of aspect, the article investigates the process of SLA of aspect in Slavic speakers at three levels of…
L1 transfer revisited
Article L1 transfer revisited: the L2 acquisition of telicity marking in English by Spanish and Bulgarian native speakers was published on October 23, 2000 in the journal Linguistics (volume 38, issue 4)
Aspectual Constraints in the Mental Lexicon
Competence Similarities Between Native and Near-Native Speakers
It has been suggested that tense and aspect distributions are very difficult to learn in a second language (L2), they are prone to fossilize universally, and their interpretive properties are subject to a critical period (Coppieters, 1987). This study focuses on the acquisition of the semantic implications of the preterite-imperfect contrast in Spanish by English-speaking individuals of very advanced proficiency in Spanish who were not living in …
Semantic evidence for functional categories in interlanguage grammars
This study investigates how semantic properties of functional categories are acquired by second language (L2) learners in an instructional setting. The following properties of the functional category (FC) of AspectP are under investigation: 1) English simple present tense cannot denote an ongoing event; 2) progressive morphology is needed for an ongoing interpretation; and 3) English bare verbal forms denote closed, or completed, events. All thre…
Is there a critical period for semantics
This article reviews recent research on the second language acquisition of meaning with a view of establishing whether there is a critical period for the acquisition of compositional semantics. It is claimed that the functional lexicon presents the most formidable challenge, while syntax and phrasal semantics pose less difficulty to learners. Findings from the neurofunctional imaging (PET, fMRI) and electrophysiology (ERPs) of L2 comprehension ar…
Learnability in the second language acquisition of semantics
The study investigates the relationship between input, UG (Universal Grammar) parameter values, and the native language in the acquisition of a purely semantic property that is superficially unrelated to its syntactic trigger, The Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi, 1991; 1994; 1996; 2001; 2005). On the one hand, English and Italian bare nouns have identical syntactic form and distribution, but differ in available interpretations. On the…
Meaning in the Second Language
This book reviews recent research on the second language acquisition of meaning with a view of establishing whether there is a critical period for the acquisition of compositional semantics. A modular approach to language architecture is assumed. The book addresses the Critical Period Hypothesis by examining the positive side of language development: it demonstrates which modules of the grammar are easy to acquire and are not subject to age effec…
How is inflectional morphology learned
This article considers recent explanations of variability in the second language (L2) comprehension of inflectional morphology. The predictions of five accounts are spelled out: the emergentist account, the Feature Assembly Hypothesis, the Contextual Complexity Hypothesis, the Morphological Underspecification Hypothesis and the Combinatorial Variability Hypothesis. These predictions are checked against the results of an experimental study on the …
Features or parameters
While agreeing with Lardiere that the `parameter-resetting' approach to understanding second language acquisition (SLA) needs rethinking, it is suggested that a more construction-based perspective runs the risk of losing deductive and explanatory power. An alternative is to investigate the constraints on feature assembly/re-assembly in second language (L2) grammars. A model of grammatical organization is adopted from Ramchand and Svenonius (2008)…
Scalar implicatures in second language acquisition
Which features are at the syntax–pragmatics interface
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A more careful look at the syntax-discourse interface
The Mind-Context Divide
Clitic-doubled left dislocation and focus fronting in L2 Spanish
This experimental study tests the Interface Hypothesis by looking into processes at the syntax–discourse interface, teasing apart acquisition of syntactic, semantic and discourse knowledge. Adopting López’s (2009) pragmatic features [±a(naphor)] and [±c(ontrast)], which in combination account for the constructions of dislocation and fronting, we tested clitic left dislocation and fronted focus in the comprehension of English native speakers learn…
Adult second language acquisition
This review article selects and elaborates on the important issues of adult second language acquisition research in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The fundamental question of whether adult second language acquisition and child first language acquisition are similar or different is addressed throughout the article. The issues of a critical period for acquisition, the importance of the linguistic input, and processing are discussed.…
Regular and Novel Metonymy in Native Korean, Spanish, and English
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…
We Have Moved On
In this Forum piece, we address several common misunderstandings of the generative L2A framework that are current in the wider L2A literature. Many of these misunderstandings stem from proposals that, although tested and eventually discarded, are still cited as though they were still accepted and in active use. We hope that by addressing four of the most persistent myths, we can persuade the wider L2A field to let them go and move on. By highligh…
The Interpretability Hypothesis again
Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou (2007) propose the Interpretability Hypothesis (IH), according to which uninterpretable features present an insurmountable difficulty in adult second language acquisition. The experimental study supporting the IH examines Greek native speakers’ knowledge of gaps versus resumptive pronouns in English wh-movement. A crucial assumption is that Greek allows resumptives optionally. Alexopoulou and Keller’s (2002, 2007) find…
Interpreting definiteness in a second language without articles
This article investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of two expressions of the semantic feature [definite] in Russian, a language without articles, by English and Korean native speakers. Within the Feature Reassembly approach (Lardiere, 2009), Slabakova (2009) has argued that reassembling features that are represented overtly in the first language (L1) and mapping them onto those that are encoded indirectly, or covertly, in the L2 will …
Omnivorous representation might lead to indigestion
A Feature-based Contrastive Approach to the L2 Acquisition of Specificity
This study examined the acquisition of the Russian indefinite determiners (kakoj-to ‘which-to’ and kakoj-nibud’ ‘which-nibud’’) encoding scopal specificity by English and Korean native speakers within the feature-based contrastive framework (Lardiere 2008, 2009). The specificity markers kakoj-to and kakoj-nibud’ are reflections of different values of three major nominal features: definiteness, scopal specificity, and referentiality. The learning …
Rumors of UG's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Debate and discussion are crucial for the advancement of our fields in order to understand the phenomena we seek to explain. When these debates are cast from an adversarial position, the value of the discussion is lost. In this sense, we are disappointed by the acrimony of de Bot’s reaction to our Forum essay. Most of his points, even those he characterizes as ‘beyond doubt’, are anecdotal and subjectively selected, whereas others are plainly wro…
Object drop in L3 acquisition
The topic of cross-linguistic differences regarding the overt or null expression of arguments has been considered both in first (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition. There is abundant literature on both subject and object drop with different language pairings but the issue has not been considered in third language (L3) acquisition. The main goal of this article is to analyse the L3 interlanguage of Basque-Spanish bilinguals regarding the acc…
Linguistics (37 obras) · Computer Science (31 obras) · Psychology (29 obras) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (24 obras) · Philosophy (21 obras) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (15 obras) · Second Language Acquisition and Learning (15 obras) · Second-language acquisition (15 obras) · Natural language processing (12 obras) · Philosophy (10 obras)