Third or Additional Language Acquisition (Second Language Acquisition, 24) - Softcover

De Angelis, Gessica

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847690033 ISBN 13: 9781847690036

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Third or Additional Language Acquisition examines research on the acquisition of languages beyond the L2 withing four main areas of inquiry: crosslinguistic influence, multilingual speech production models, the multilingual lexicon and the impact of bi/multilingualism on cognitive development. The book critically examines the evidence available keeping two main questions in mind. The first is whether multilinguals should be considered as learners and speakers in their own right and, consequently, whether the distinction between Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism, and Third or Additional Language Acquisition and Multilingualism is fully warranted. The second is how proficient in a non-native language learners are supposed to be before they can begin to be classified as multilingual learners in empirical research

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Gessica De Angelis is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Centre for Language and Communication Studies at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She researches and publishes extensively within the areas of multilingualism, multilingual testing and assessment, crosslinguistic influence and language education. Among her works is Third or Additional Language Acquisition (2007, Multilingual Matters).

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Third or Additional Language Acquisition

By Gessica De Angelis

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2007 Gessica De Angelis
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84769-003-6

Contents

List of Illustrations, vii, 
1 The Multilingual Learner and Speaker, 1, 
2 Factors Affecting Non-native Language Influence, 19, 
3 What Can be Transferred from One or More Non-native Language to Another, 41, 
4 Multilingual Speech Production, 64, 
5 The Multilingual Lexicon, 87, 
6 Prior Language Knowledge, Cognitive Development and the Language Acquisition Process, 109, 
7 Conclusion, 130, 
References, 139, 

CHAPTER 1

The Multilingual Learner and Speaker

Introduction

Human beings are remarkable language learners who can easily learn and master several languages throughout their lives. Most of us have met people who can switch from one language to another within the same conversation, or children as young as four of five who can use one language with their mother, another with their father, and yet another with their kindergarten teacher. Multilingualism is, no doubt, a common achievement for many people around the word.

The increasing spread of multilingualism and the importance of language within society has led several scholars to investigate multilingual behaviour over the years, as evidenced by the strong tradition of work on sociolinguistic and educational aspects of multilingualism (Abu-Rabia, 1998; Baetens Beardsmore and Kohls, 1988; Bhatia, 2004; Bild and Swain, 1989; Brohy, 2001; Cenoz and Genesee, 1998; Cenoz et al., 2001; Clyne et al., 2004; Cummins, 2001; Dagenais and Day, 1998; Edwards, 1994; Jaspaert and Lemmens, 1990; Kramsch, 2006; Leman, 1990; Muñoz, 2000; Oksaar, 1983; Pandey, 1991). Research on the cognitive and psycholinguistic aspects of multilingualism has instead been much slower to appear. With the exception of a few early studies (Chamot, 1973; Chandrasekhar, 1978; Gulutsan, 1976; Haggis, 1973; Lococo, 1976; Tulving and Colotla, 1970; Vildomec, 1963), it is only in the 1980s that multilinguals' processes begin to be examined closely and systematically, reaching the effect of raising a general awareness among scholars that multilinguals are learners and speakers of their own who should not be compared to L2 learners without some careful vigilance.

At present most studies on multilinguals' acquisition and production processes can be found in academic journals, edited volumes, conference proceedings or unpublished M.A. or Ph.D. theses. This book intends to pull these references together and provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of research conducted within the following core areas of inquiry: crosslinguistic influence, multilingual speech production, the multilingual lexicon, and the impact of bi/multilingualism on cognitive development and the language acquisition process.

Discussions in each chapter reflect the fundamental belief that research on multilingual behaviour can offer some valuable insights about the process of non-native language acquisition and speech production as a whole. On the one hand, it can no longer go unnoticed that a large part of the world's population speaks several languages on a daily basis, and a focus on L2 speakers alone is clearly too restrictive for future progress. On the other, most of today's language learners go on to learn languages beyond the second one, and L2 learner behaviour cannot adequately inform us about phenomena related to multilingualism. An increased understanding of multilinguals' processes can therefore help us develop theories and frameworks that are comprehensive and generalizable to wide groups of individuals. Most importantly, since all humans are capable of learning and speaking more than two languages, they are all actual or potential multilingual learners and speakers at any given time in their lives. In fact, humans can be argued to be multilingual by default, with the option of being monolingual or bilingual depending on factors such as educational and social context, personal interest, individual motivation and so forth.

A first question rarely addressed about the multilingual mind relates to its capacity to retain and use linguistic information over time. We all know that individuals can learn a few foreign languages with ease, but we have hardly any knowledge of the possible number of languages that can be learned and maintained over short and long periods of time. The only information on the mind's potential that we have amounts to occasional descriptive reports of polyglots who succeeded in acquiring and using an unusually large number of languages in their lives. For instance, Baker and Jones (1998) report on the achievements of three remarkable individuals. The first is a certain Harold Williams of New Zealand, who allegedly mastered 58 languages throughout his life. The second is Derick Herning of Lerwick, Scotland, who won the Polyglot of Europe Contest in 1990 thanks to his knowledge of 22 languages. The third is Alexander Schwartz, who worked for the United Nations from 1962 to 1986, translating from a total of 31 languages.

These are extraordinary language learners who are a world apart from the typical learner researchers encounter in their work. Nonetheless, their impressive achievements provide us with a measure of the mind's potential to learn and maintain languages over time. From these three cases we can infer that the human mind is capable of handling an exceptionally large amount of linguistic information over long periods of time, which is a remarkable ability that theories and models of non-native language acquisition and speech production must necessarily be able to account for, regardless of how frequent or rare polyglots such as these may be in real life. While it is true that the average person will never learn thirty or fifty languages, it is the potential to learn and use language that concerns us the most here, as any model which aims to be comprehensive and generalizable must be able to describe how the mind works at its full potential, and not at its limited capacity.

Studies on multilingualism with specific reference to language acquisition and speech production are generally in short supply, but recent years has seen some positive changes in this regard. A noticeable growth of interest in these topics has emerged, as evidenced by the number of publications that have appeared in the literature within a fairly short period of time, particularly from the 1990s onwards. As is usually the case with any other emerging field of inquiry, there is a period of time in which the new field is conceived of as a mere extension of other well-established fields – in our specific case Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Bilingualism. Any process of emergence inevitably sees opposing views fighting for space and clashing with one another, and the journey is rarely smooth. The study of multilinguals' processes is no exception.

This chapter begins by exploring some of the issues that generally surround this process of emergence. The chapter is organized in four sections as follows. The first section introduces some basic differences between Second and Third or Additional Language Acquisition and overviews the 'no-difference' assumption that shapes so many of the SLA studies currently available. These initial remarks are followed in the second section by a description of some of the terminological issues in the field, and then in the third section by a discussion on the existence of a bilingual bias in multilingualism research. An outline of the book...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1847690033
• ISBN 13: 9781847690036
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 162
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland