| 1. |
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Abrahamsson, Niclas, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Ligger »nästan inföddlikhet» i tvåspråkighetens natur? : Om ålders- vs tvåspråkighetseffekter vid andraspråksinlärning
- 2021
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Ingår i: Språk och stil. - : Uppsala University. - 1101-1165 .- 2002-4010. ; NF 31:1, s. 108-142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relatively recent insight, that the ultimate attainment of childhood L2 learners does not always – or, in fact, does not very often – converge fully with that of native speakers, has called into question age of acquisition (AoA) as the cause of such near-native (rather than nativelike) ultimate attainment. An alternative, increasingly popular, interpretation is that the subtle differences between near-native and nativelike language knowledge and behavior arise, not as an effect of AoA, but merely as an artefact of the customary, allegedly biased comparison between monolingual and bilingual speakers. Along similar lines, it is commonly held that it is the monolingual acquisition (made possible through total L1 loss and ‘neural resetting’) that makes it possible for internationally adopted children to become fully nativelike in their L2 (or “new L1”). With data from a recent series of studies, we challenge these views. In these studies, speakers of Swedish, who were either L1 monolinguals, L1 (simultaneous) bilinguals, early L2 (sequential) monolinguals, or early L2 (sequential) bilinguals, were tested on a total of 13 measures of language representation and processing in Swedish, covering both production and perception of phonetics, morphosyntax, and lexis. The results show consistent effects of AoA but next-to-neg- ligible effects of bilingualism on ultimate attainment, suggesting that AoA – not bilingualism– is the primary determinant of L2 ultimate attainment.
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| 4. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive restructuring : Psychophysical measurement of time perception in bilinguals
- 2023
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 26:4, s. 809-818
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores the link between the metaphoric structure TIME IS SPACE and time perception in bilinguals. While there appear to be fundamental commonalities in the way humans perceive and experience time regardless of language background, language-specific spatiotemporal metaphors can give rise to differences between populations, under certain conditions. Little is known, however, about how bilinguals experience time, and the specific factors that may modulate bilingual temporal processing. Here, we address this gap by examining L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish bilinguals in a psychophysical task. Results show that duration estimation of dynamic spatial configurations analogous to L2-specific temporal metaphors is modulated by L2 proficiency. In contrast, duration estimation of spatial configurations analogous to the L1 metaphorical expressions appears to be modulated by the age of L2 acquisition. These findings are discussed in terms of associative learning and cognitive restructuring in the bilingual mind.
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| 5. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Does Grammatical Aspect Affect Motion Event Cognition? A Cross-Linguistic Comparison of English and Swedish Speakers
- 2013
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Ingår i: Cognitive science. - : Wiley. - 0364-0213 .- 1551-6709. ; 37:2, s. 286-309
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we explore whether cross-linguistic differences in grammatical aspect encoding may give rise to differences in memory and cognition. We compared native speakers of two languages that encode aspect differently (English and Swedish) in four tasks that examined verbal descriptions of stimuli, online triads matching, and memory-based triads matching with and without verbal interference. Results showed between-group differences in verbal descriptions and in memory-based triads matching. However, no differences were found in online triads matching and in memory-based triads matching with verbal interference. These findings need to be interpreted in the context of the overall pattern of performance, which indicated that both groups based their similarity judgments on common perceptual characteristics of motion events. These results show for the first time a cross-linguistic difference in memory as a function of differences in grammatical aspect encoding, but they also contribute to the emerging view that language fine tunes rather than shapes perceptual processes that are likely to be universal and unchanging.
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| 6. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Learning to Think in a Second Language : Effects of Proficiency and Length of Exposure in English Learners of German
- 2015
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Ingår i: The Modern language journal. - : Wiley. - 0026-7902 .- 1540-4781. ; 99, s. 138-153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the current study is to investigate motion event cognition in second language learners in a higher education context. Based on recent findings that speakers of grammatical aspect languages like English attend less to the endpoint (goal) of events than do speakers of nonaspect languages like Swedish in a nonverbal categorization task involving working memory (Athanasopoulos & Bylund, 2013; Bylund & Athanasopoulos, 2015), the current study asks whether native speakers of an aspect language start paying more attention to event endpoints when learning a nonaspect language. Native English and German (a nonaspect language) speakers, and English learners of L2 German, who were pursuing studies in German language and literature at an English university, were asked to match a target scene with intermediate degree of endpoint orientation with two alternate scenes with low and high degree of endpoint orientation, respectively. Results showed that, compared to the native English speakers, the learners of German were more prone to base their similarity judgements on endpoint saliency, rather than ongoingness, primarily as a function of increasing L2 proficiency and year of university study. Further analyses revealed a nonlinear relationship between length of L2 exposure and categorization patterns, subserved by a progressive strengthening of the relationship between L2 proficiency and categorization as length of exposure increased. These findings present evidence that cognitive restructuring may occur through increasing experience with an L2, but also suggest that this relationship may be complex and unfold over a long period of time.
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| 7. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Semantics and cognition : Spatiotemporal metaphors and time perception in L2 users
- 2024
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Ingår i: The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics. - 9781003412373 - 9781032535005 ; , s. 545-558
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence for a universal metaphoric structure such as TIME IS SPACE and its effects on temporal cognition in L2 users. The chapter covers previous experimental evidence that lends support to the psychological reality of the TIME IS SPACE metaphor, while also revealing cross-linguistic differences in how this fundamental metaphor is instantiated across the world's languages. It then reviews research that has extended this exploration to the SLA arena. While studies specifically focusing on L2 users are still scarce, several promising lines of enquiry have been opened, showing that bilinguals may flexibly switch between different temporal frames depending on their language of operation. Preliminary research has also shown that L2 proficiency and age of L2 acquisition appear to modulate the extent to which temporal cognition patterns may be restructured as a function of L2 acquisition of a language with different metaphoric structures from the first. The chapter ends by calling for a systematic investigation of L2 user cognition in this area, as it can contribute to our understanding of both L2 acquisition phenomena related to conceptual representation, as well as to our understanding of the malleable nature of human conceptual representation itself.
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| 8. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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The psychological reality of spatio-temporal metaphors
- 2017
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Ingår i: Studies in Figurative Thought and Language. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 9789027246721 ; , s. 296-321
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Time provides essential structure to human experience. This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence for a fundamental metaphoric structure such astime is spacein figurative language and thought. The chapter is organized into three over-arching themes: Motion through time, temporal succession, and duration estimation. A large part of the experimental evidence lends support to the psychological reality of thetime is spacemetaphor, revealing the inextricable link between conceptual metaphor in language and time perception. The review also reveals that linguistic space-time mappings may be overridden by cultural conventions, calling for further empirical cross-linguistic and cross-cultural exploration within experimental cognitive linguistics.
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| 9. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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The ‘thinking’ in thinking-for-speaking : Where is it?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Language, Interaction, and Acquisition. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 1879-7865 .- 1879-7873. ; 4:1, s. 91-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to the thinking-for-speaking (TFS) hypothesis, speakers of different languages think differently while in the process of mentally preparing content for speech. The aim of the present paper is to critically discuss the research carried out within the TFS paradigm, against the background of the basic tenets laid out by the proponents of this framework. We will show that despite substantial progress in the investigation of crosslinguistic differences in the organisation of information in discourse, the studies that actually examine the cognitive aspects of speech production are, to date, vanishingly few. This state of affairs creates a gap in our knowledge about the thought processes that co-occur with speech production during language use and acquisition. We will argue that in order to reach a more comprehensive picture of the cognitive processes and outcomes of speech production, methodologies additional to the analysis of information organisation must be used.
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| 10. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Two Languages, Two Minds : Flexible Cognitive Processing Driven by Language of Operation
- 2015
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Ingår i: Psychological Science. - : SAGE Publications. - 0956-7976 .- 1467-9280. ; 26:4, s. 518-526
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- People make sense of objects and events around them by classifying them into identifiable categories. The extent to which language affects this process has been the focus of a long-standing debate: Do different languages cause their speakers to behave differently? Here, we show that fluent German-English bilinguals categorize motion events according to the grammatical constraints of the language in which they operate. First, as predicted from cross-linguistic differences in motion encoding, bilingual participants functioning in a German testing context prefer to match events on the basis of motion completion to a greater extent than do bilingual participants in an English context. Second, when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in English, their categorization behavior is congruent with that predicted for German; when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in German, their categorization becomes congruent with that predicted for English. These findings show that language effects on cognition are context-bound and transient, revealing unprecedented levels of malleability in human cognition.
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| 11. |
- Athanasopoulos, Panos, et al.
(författare)
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Whorf in the Wild : Naturalistic Evidence from Human Interaction
- 2020
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Ingår i: Applied Linguistics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0142-6001 .- 1477-450X. ; 41:6, s. 947-970
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The past few decades have seen a full resurgence of the question of whether speakers of different languages think differently, also known as the Whorfian question. A characteristic of this neo-Whorfian enterprise is that the knowledge it has generated stems from psycholinguistic laboratory methods. As a consequence, our knowledge about how Whorfian effects play out in naturally occurring behaviour (i.e. 'in the wild') is severely limited. This study argues that the time is ripe to redeem this evidentiary bias, and advocates a multidisciplinary approach towards the Whorfian question, in which insights from laboratory settings are combined with naturalistic data in order to yield a rounded picture of the influence of language on thought. To showcase the potential of such an approach, the study uses laboratory-generated knowledge on the influence of grammatical categories on cognition to interpret two examples of naturalistic human interaction and action in the domains of spatial navigation and scientific practice.
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| 12. |
- Berghoff, Robyn, et al.
(författare)
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L1 activation during L2 processing is modulated by both age of acquisition and proficiency
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Neurolinguistics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0911-6044 .- 1873-8052. ; 58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is well established that access to the bilingual lexicon is non-selective: even in an entirely monolingual context, elements of the non-target language are active. Research has also shown that activation of the non-target language is greater at higher proficiency levels, suggesting that it may be proficiency that drives cross-language lexical activation. At the same time, the potential role of age of acquisition (AoA) in cross-language activation has gone largely unexplored, as most studies have either focused on adult L2 learners or have conflated AoA with L2 proficiency. The present study examines the roles of AoA and L2 proficiency in L2 lexical processing using the visual world paradigm. Participants were a group of early L1 Afrikaans-L2 English bilinguals (AoA 1-9 years) and a control group of L1 English speakers. Importantly, in the bilingual group, AoA and proficiency were not correlated. In the task, participants viewed a screen with four objects on it: a target object, a competitor object whose Afrikaans translation overlapped phonetically with the target object, and two unrelated distractor objects. The results show that the L2 English group was significantly more likely to look at the cross-language competitor than the L1 English group, thus providing evidence of cross-language activation. Importantly, the extent to which this activation occurred was modulated by both L2 proficiency and AoA. These findings suggest that while these two variables may have been confounded in previous research, they actually both exert effects on cross-language activation. The locus of this parallel activation effect is discussed in terms of connectionist models of bilingualism.
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| 13. |
- Berghoff, Robyn, et al.
(författare)
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L2 activation during L1 processing is increased by exposure but decreased by proficiency
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Bilingualism. - 1367-0069 .- 1756-6878.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: The study investigates the effects of L2 proficiency and L2 exposure on L2-to-L1 cross-language activation (CLA) in L1-dominant bilinguals. In so doing, it tests the predictions made by prominent models of the bilingual lexicon regarding how language experience modulates CLA. Design: The participants (27 L1-dominant L1 English-L2 Afrikaans speakers) completed a visual world eye-tracking task, conducted entirely in English, in which they saw four objects on a screen: a target object, which they were instructed to click on; a competitor object, whose Afrikaans label overlapped phonetically at onset with the English target object label; and two unrelated distractors. Language background data were collected using the Language History Questionnaire 3.0. Analysis: A growth curve analysis was performed to investigate the extent to which the background variables modulated looks to the Afrikaans competitor item versus to the two unrelated distractor items. Findings: Increased L2 exposure was associated with greater CLA, which is consistent with models suggesting that exposure modulates the likelihood and speed with which a linguistic item becomes activated. Moreover, CLA was reduced at higher levels of L2 proficiency, which aligns with accounts of the bilingual lexicon positing that parasitism of the L2 on the L1 is reduced at higher proficiency levels, leading to reduced CLA. Originality: L2 activation during L1 processing and the variables that modulate it are not well documented, particularly among L1 speakers with limited proficiency in and exposure to the L2. Significance: The findings contribute to the evaluation of competing accounts of bilingual lexical organization.
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| 14. |
- Bokander, Lars, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Probing the internal validity of the LLAMA language aptitude tests
- 2020
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Ingår i: Language learning. - Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons. - 0023-8333 .- 1467-9922. ; 70:1, s. 11-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over the past decade, the LLAMA language aptitude test battery has come to play an increasingly important role as an instrument in research on individual differences in language development. However, a potentially serious problem that has been pointed out by several scholars is that the LLAMA has not yet been carefully validated. We addressed this issue by examining the internal validity of this test battery. We collected LLAMA data from 350 participants and assessed these data using classical item analysis, Rasch analysis, and principal component analysis within a framework of best practices in educational and psychological test validation. The results show that only one out of the four subtests (LLAMA B) produced scores that fit a latent trait model with sufficient accuracy. This suggests that researchers using the LLAMA battery must treat their results with appropriate carefulness and also that there is potential for refining the LLAMA further.
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| 15. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Age of acquisition effects or effects of bilingualism in second language ultimate attainment?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Sensitive Periods, Language Aptitude, and Ultimate L2 Attainment. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 9789027213112 ; , s. 69-102
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the most robust findings in the field of SLA is the different rates of success with which children and adults achieve nativelike proficiency in a L2. Age-related differences have traditionally been explained in terms of the maturational state of the learner. Recently, however, a growing number of accounts hold that age effects in ultimate attainment are due to L1 entrenchment (e.g. Flege 1999; MacWhinney 2005; Ventureyra, Pallier & Yoo 2004). In this view, an increase in L1 proficiency leads to the progressive entrenchment of L1 representations, with the consequence that L2 acquisition becomes more difficult. Inherent in this interpretation is the assumption that the “less L1”, the less it will interfere with the L2. In this paper, we analyse the theoretical underpinnings of the “L1 entrenchment accounts”, and evaluate the existing evidence for and against such claims.
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| 16. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Age of acquisition – not bilingualism – is the primary determinant of less than nativelike L2 ultimate attainment
- 2021
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 24:1, s. 18-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has recently been suggested that bilingualism, rather than age of acquisition, is what underlies less than nativelike attainment in childhood L2 acquisition. Currently, however, the empirical evidence in favor of or against this interpretation remains scarce. The present study sets out to fill this gap, implementing a novel factorial design in which the variables age of acquisition and bilingualism have been fully crossed. Eighty speakers of Swedish, who were either L1 monolinguals, L1 simultaneous bilinguals, L2 sequential monolinguals (international adoptees), or L2 sequential bilinguals (childhood immigrants), were tested on phonetic, grammatical, and lexical measures. The results indicate consistent effects of age of acquisition, but only limited effects of bilingualism, on ultimate attainment. These findings thus show that age of acquisition – not bilingualism – is the primary determinant of L2 ultimate attainment.
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| 17. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Back to the future? The role of temporal focus for mapping time onto space
- 2020
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Ingår i: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. - : SAGE Publications. - 1747-0218 .- 1747-0226. ; 73:2, s. 174-182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Do we conceptualise the future as being behind us or in front of us? Although this question has traditionally been investigated through the lens of spatiotemporal metaphors, new impetus was recently provided by the Temporal-Focus Hypothesis. This hypothesis holds that the mapping of temporal concepts onto the front-back axis is determined by an individual's temporal focus, which varies as a function of culture, age, and short-term attention shifts. Here, we instead show that participants map the future on to a frontal position, regardless of cultural background and short-term shifts. However, one factor that does influence temporal mappings is age, such that older participants are more likely to map the future as behind than younger participants. These findings suggest that ageing may be a major determinant of space-time mappings, and that additional data need to be collected before concluding that culture or short-term attention do influence space-time mappings.
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| 18. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Crosslinguistic Differences in Food Labels Do Not Yield Differences in Taste Perception
- 2024
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Ingår i: Language learning. - 0023-8333 .- 1467-9922.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research has shown that speakers of different languages may differ in their cognitive and perceptual processing of reality. A common denominator of this line of investigation has been its reliance on the sensory domain of vision. The aim of our study was to extend the scope to a new sense—taste. Using as a starting point crosslinguistic differences in the category boundaries of edible bulbs, we examined whether monolingual speakers of English and bilingual speakers of Norwegian and English were influenced by language-specific categories during tasting. The results showed no evidence of such effects, not even for the Norwegian participants in an entirely Norwegian context. This suggests that crosslinguistic differences in visual perception do not readily generalize to the domain of taste. We discuss the findings in terms of predictive processing, with particular reference to trigeminal stimulation (a central tasting component) and the interplay between chemosensory signals and top-down linguistic modulation.
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| 19. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Does bilingualism come with linguistic costs? A meta-analytic review of the bilingual lexical deficit
- 2023
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Ingår i: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1069-9384 .- 1531-5320. ; 30:3, s. 897-913
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of recent studies have shown that the once-assumed cognitive advantage of bilingualism finds little support in the evidence available to date. Surprisingly, however, the view that bilingualism incurs linguistic costs (the so-called lexical deficit) has not yet been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny, despite its centrality for our understanding of the human capacity for language. The current study implemented a comprehensive meta-analysis to address this gap. By analyzing 478 effect sizes from 130 studies on expressive vocabulary, we found that observed lexical deficits could not be attributed to bilingualism: Simultaneous bilinguals (who acquired both languages from birth) did not exhibit any lexical deficit, nor did sequential bilinguals (who acquired one language from birth and a second language after that) when tested in their mother tongue. Instead, systematic evidence for a lexical deficit was found among sequential bilinguals when tested in their second language, and more so for late than for early second language learners. This result suggests that a lexical deficit may be a phenomenon of second language acquisition rather than bilingualism per se.
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| 20. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Does first language maintenance hamper nativelikeness in a second language? : a study of ultimate attainment in early bilinguals
- 2012
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Ingår i: Studies in Second Language Acquisition. - 0272-2631 .- 1470-1545. ; 34:2, s. 215-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within the field of SLA, the incidence of nativelikeness in second language (L2) speakers has typically been explained as a function of age of acquisition. An alternative interpretation, however, is that L2 learners do not attain nativelike proficiency because of first language (L1) maintenance. This interpretation has nevertheless remained mostly theoretical due to the lack of empirical evidence. This study sets out to address the role of L1 proficiency in L2 ultimate attainment by examining L1 and L2 proficiency in 30 early L1 Spanish-L2 Swedish bilinguals. Language proficiency was assessed through grammaticality judgment tests and cloze tests, and additional data on language aptitude were collected through the Swansea Language Aptitude Test (v. 2.0; Meara, Milton, & Lorenzo-Dus, 2002). The results showed positive correlations between nativelike L1 and L2 behavior. Additionally, it was found that language aptitude was positively correlated with nativelike L1 and L2 performance. In view of these findings, it is suggested that (a) L1 maintenance does not hamper L2 nativelikeness and (b) language aptitude is an important factor for bilingual ultimate attainment.
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| 21. |
- Bylund, Emanuel
(författare)
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Effects of age of L2 acquisition on L1 event conceptualization patterns
- 2009
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 12:3, s. 305-322
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study explores the effects that the age of onset (AO) of second language (L2) acquisition exerts on the attrition of first language (L1) event conceptualization patterns. The subjects studied are L1 Spanish–L2 Swedish bilinguals living in Sweden. The specific research questions addressed in the study concern the role of AO in endpoint encoding and temporal perspectivation in goal-oriented motion events. In view of previous findings on age effects in attrition, it is hypothesized that deviations from Spanish monolingual patterns of conceptualization would be limited basically to subjects whose AO is below 12 years of age. The analyses show that subjects with AO > 12 converge with Spanish monolingual controls on both endpoint encoding and temporal perspectivation strategies, whereas deviations from the controls' performance are found exclusively in subjects with AO < 12. It is suggested, in view of these findings, that subjects with early AO are more dependent on advantageous socio-psychological circumstances such as L1 contact and use in order to fully acquire/maintain Spanish event conceptualization patterns, while L1 maintenance in subjects with late AO is less dependent on these factors. It is concluded that patterns of event conceptualization are affected by age in the same way as formal language skills.
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| 22. |
- Bylund, Emanuel
(författare)
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Flerspråkighet och tanke
- 2021
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Ingår i: Språk och stil. - : Uppsala University. - 1101-1165 .- 2002-4010. ; NF 31:1, s. 143-165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Does language influence the way we think and reason about reality? If so, what happens if you speak more than one language? These questions have been at the centre stage of the field of psycholinguistics since the early 2000’s. The aim of this article is to review the state-of-the-art in research on language and thought, focusing particularly on multilingualism. First, a historical overview of the field is provided, which serves as the backdrop against which current findings on multilingualism and cognitive processing are discussed. Subsequently, the article analyses how biographical variables, such as language proficiency, age of acquisition, and frequency of language use, may modulate the way in which language influences multilingual thought. The article closes by discussing specific issues in research on language and thought that merit further study.
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| 23. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction : Cognition, Motion Events, and SLA
- 2015
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Ingår i: The Modern language journal. - : Wiley. - 0026-7902 .- 1540-4781. ; 99:S1, s. 1-13
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This opening article introduces the reader to current topics in research on language and thought in monolingual speakers and second language (L2) learners, with particular attention to the domain of motion. The article also delineates the rationale that underlies the special issue at hand, and provides a contextualisation of the individual contributions. It is argued that the centrality of motion in everyday human life, in combination with the vast cross-linguistic variation in motion construal, makes motion events a suitable topic for SLA research, both in terms of ecological validity and learnability challenge. The pedagogical aspects of this line of research are discussed in terms of, first, whether it is desirable to include the acquisition of language-specific thought patterns in curricular goals, and second, whether the knowledge about language specificity in thought can be used in teaching as a means to facilitate learning.
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| 24. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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L2 effects on L1 event conceptualization patterns
- 2011
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 14:1, s. 47-59
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The finding that speakers of aspect languages encode event endpoints to a lesser extent than do speakers of non-aspect languages has led to the hypothesis that there is a relationship between grammatical aspect and event conceptualization (e.g., von Stutterheim and Nüse, 2003). The present study concerns L1 event conceptualization in 40 L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish bilinguals (all near-native speakers of Swedish). Spanish and Swedish differ as regards grammatical aspect: Whereas Swedish lacks this grammatical category, Spanish conveys aspect through verbal morphology and periphrasis. The principal aim of the study was to explore the relationship between event conceptualization patterns and proficiency with aspectual contrasts. The participants were asked to provide oral L1 Spanish descriptions of video clips projecting motion events with different degrees of endpoint orientation (see von Stutterheim, 2003). In addition, they took a grammaticality judgment test concerning verb and gender agreement, verbal clitics and aspectual contrasts. Compared with baseline data from monolingual Spanish speakers, the results on endpoint encoding show that the bilinguals mention the endpoints of motion events to a higher degree than the Spanish control group does. Moreover, it was shown that the weaker the bilinguals’ discrimination of aspectual errors on the grammaticality judgement test, the more prone they were to encoding endpoints. This result consequently furthers the hypothesis about the interconnectedness between grammatical aspect and event conceptualization. It was suggested that this finding indicate that the bilinguals are influenced by the Swedish-like tendency to attend to the boundedness rather than the ongoingness of events.
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| 25. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Language and thought in a multilingual context : The case of isiXhosa
- 2014
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 17:2, s. 431-441
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Situated within the grammatical aspect approach to motion event cognition, this study takes a first step in investigating language and thought in functional multilinguals by studying L1 isiXhosa speakers living in South Africa. IsiXhosa being a non-aspect language, the study investigates how the knowledge and use of additional languages with grammatical aspect influence cognition of endpoint-oriented motion events among L1 isiXhosa speakers. Results from a triads-matching task show that participants who often used aspect languages and had greater exposure to English in primary education were less prone to rely on endpoints when categorising motion events.
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| 26. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
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Language Aptitude in First Language Attrition : A Study on Late Spanish-Swedish Bilinguals
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied Linguistics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0142-6001 .- 1477-450X. ; 37:5, s. 621-638
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Language aptitude remains one of the most understudied predictor variables in L1 attrition research. The current study seeks to address this gap by investigating the effects of language aptitude on L1 retention in late attriters. Forty L1 Spanish - L2 Swedish bilinguals living in Sweden participated in the study, along with 20 functionally monolingual L1 speakers of Spanish. L1 proficiency was measured by means of a grammaticality judgement test (GJT) and language aptitude data were obtained through the LLAMA Language Aptitude Test (Meara 2005). Additional data on the participants' linguistic background were also collected. Results revealed a robust difference in GJT scores between the bilinguals and the control group. However, degree of language aptitude was not found to exert a significant influence on the bilinguals' GJT performance. Instead, the only significant predictor for GJT performance was linguistic identification, showing that those participants with strong L1 identification were more accurate in judging L1 grammaticality. The lack of aptitude effects on L1 attrition is discussed against the background of age-related attrition susceptibility.
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| 27. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Language attrition
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Language, Society and Communication. - : van Schaik. - 9780627030185 - 0627030181
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 28. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Language attrition
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Language. - 0097-8507 .- 1535-0665. ; 88:4
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Recension (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
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| 31. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
Linguistic and geographic diversity in research on second language acquisition and multilingualism : An analysis of selected journals
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Applied Linguistics. - 0142-6001 .- 1477-450X.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study assesses linguistic and geographic diversity in selected outlets of SLA and multilingualism research. Specifically, we examine over 2,000 articles published in specialized top-tier journals, recording the languages under study and their acquisition order, author affiliations, the country in which the research was conducted, and citations. In the sample, there were 183 unique languages and 174 unique pairings, corresponding to 3 per cent of the world’s 7,000 languages and less than 0.001 per cent of 24.5 million possible language combinations. English was overwhelmingly the most common language, followed by Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. North America and Western Europe were both the main producers of knowledge and the main sites for research on multilingualism in the sample. Crucially, the regions with the highest levels of linguistic diversity and societal multilingualism (typically the Global South) were only marginally represented. The findings also show that studies on English and northern Anglophone settings were likely to elicit more citations than studies on other languages and settings, and that less studied languages were included more frequently in article titles.
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| 32. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
Linguistic relativity in SLA : Towards a new research programme
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Language learning. - : Wiley. - 0023-8333 .- 1467-9922. ; 64:4, s. 952-985
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the current article is to support the investigation of linguistic relativity in second language acquisition and sketch methodological and theoretical prerequisites toward developing the domain into a full research program. We identify and discuss three theoretical-methodological components that we believe are needed to succeed in this enterprise. First, we highlight the importance of using nonverbal methods to study linguistic relativity effects in second language (L2) speakers. The use of nonverbal tasks is necessary in order to avoid the circularity that arises when inferences about nonverbal behavior are made on the basis of verbal evidence alone. Second, we identify and delineate the likely cognitive mechanisms underpinning cognitive restructuring in L2 speakers by introducing the theoretical framework of associative learning. By doing so, we demonstrate that the extent and nature of cognitive restructuring in L2 speakers is essentially a function of variation in individual learners’ trajectories. Third, we offer an in-depth discussion of the factors (e.g., L2 proficiency and L2 use) that characterize those trajectories, anchoring them to the framework of associative learning, and reinterpreting their relative strength in predicting L2 speaker cognition.
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| 33. |
- Bylund, Emanuel
(författare)
-
Maturational constraints and first language attrition
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Language learning. - : Wiley. - 0023-8333 .- 1467-9922. ; 59:3, s. 687-715
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the article is to examine how first language attrition research on maturational constraints interprets and links its findings to current views on maturation in the field of second language acquisition. It is argued that attrition research exhibits certain inconsistencies in the interpretation of the structural characteristics of the critical period and the interplay between maturation and nonmaturational factors in attrition. In view of findings from first language relearning/reactivation and theoretical-methodological advances in second language research on maturation, the article proposes a reinterpretation of maturational constraints in language attrition that, first, emphasizes the gradual decline of susceptibility to attrition and, second, puts forth the conditioning function that the maturational constraints have on nonmaturational factors.
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| 34. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Motion event categorisation in a nativised variety of South African English
- 2015
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1367-0050 .- 1747-7522. ; 18:5, s. 588-601
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study seeks to expand the current focus on acquisition situations in linguistic relativity research by exploring the effects of nativisation (the process by which a L2 is acquired as a L1) on language-specific cognitive behaviour. Categorisation preferences of goal-oriented motion events were investigated in South African speakers who learnt English as a L1 from caregivers who spoke English as a L2 and Afrikaans as a L1. The aim of the study was to establish whether the categorisation patterns found in the nativised English variety: (1) resemble patterns of L2 speakers of English with Afrikaans as a L1, (2) resemble patterns of L1 English speakers of a non-nativised English variety and (3) do not pattern with either of the above, but instead exhibit a distinct behaviour. It was found that simultaneous, functional bilinguals (Afrikaans and nativised English) patterned with L1 Afrikaans speakers, but the extent to which they did so was modulated by their frequency of use of Afrikaans. Functionally monolingual speakers of nativised English, on the other hand, patterned with L1 speakers of British English. This suggests that bilingualism, rather than nativisation, was a reliable predictor of event categorisation preferences.
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| 35. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Motion event cognition and grammatical aspect : Evidence from Afrikaans
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Linguistics. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0024-3949 .- 1613-396X. ; 51:5, s. 929-955
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research on the relationship between grammatical aspect and motion event construal has posited that speakers of non-aspect languages are more prone to encoding event endpoints than are speakers of aspect languages (e. g., von Stutterheim and Carroll 2011). In the present study, we test this hypothesis by extending this line of inquiry to Afrikaans, a non-aspect language which is previously unexplored in this regard. Motion endpoint behavior among Afrikaans speakers was measured by means of a linguistic retelling task and a non-linguistic similarity judgment task, and then compared with the behavior of speakers of a non-aspect language (Swedish) and speakers of an aspect language (English). Results showed the Afrikaans speakers' endpoint patterns aligned with Swedish patterns, but were significantly different from English patterns. It was also found that the variation among the Afrikaans speakers could be partially explained by taking into account their frequency of use of English, such that those who used English more frequently exhibited an endpoint behavior that was more similar to English speakers. The current study thus lends further support to the hypothesis that speakers of different languages attend differently to event endpoints as a function of the grammatical category of aspect.
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Revisiting the bilingual lexical deficit: The impact of age of acquisition
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Cognition. - : Elsevier BV. - 0010-0277 .- 1873-7838. ; 182, s. 45-49
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whereas the cognitive advantages brought about by bilingualism have recently been called into question, the so-called ‘lexical deficit’ in bilinguals is still largely taken for granted. Here, we argue that, in analogy with cognitive advantages, the lexical deficit does not apply across the board of bilinguals, but varies as a function of acquisition trajectory. To test this, we implement a novel methodological design, where the variables of bilingualism and first/second language status have been fully crossed in four different groups. While the results confirm effects of bilingualism on lexical proficiency and processing, they show more robust effects of age of acquisition. We conclude that the traditional view of the linguistic costs of bilingualism need to give way to a new understanding of lexical development in which age of acquisition is seen as a major determinant.
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| 38. |
- Bylund, Emanuel Spångberg
(författare)
-
Ultimate attainment of event segmentation and temporal structuring patterns in speakers of L2 Swedish
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics. - 1697-0381. ; 8, s. 29-53
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates ultimate attainment of patterns of segmentation and temporal structuring of events in L2 speakers. The participant group consists of 35 L1 Spanish - L2 Swedish adult bilinguals living in Sweden, with ages of L2 acquisition ranging from 1 to 19 years. Fifteen native speakers of Swedish and 15 native speakers of Spanish were engaged as controls. The participants provided online-retellings of a film excerpt. The results showed that the L2 speakers resorted to an event segmentation strategy with an intermediate degree of event resolution, which fell in between the monolingual Spanish high degree of resolution and the monolingual Swedish low degree of resolution. Regarding temporal structuring patterns, the results showed that the L2 speakers converged with the Swedish-speaking controls, linking the events by means of anaphoric adverbials (i.e., x then y). There was no effect of age of L2 acquisition on the L2 speakers' degree of conformity with Swedish native speaker behaviour.
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| 39. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
Second language acquisition
- 2014. - 1
-
Ingår i: Language, Society & Communication. - Hatfield : van Schaik. - 9780627030185 - 0627030181 - 9780627030963
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 40. |
- Bylund, Emanuel
(författare)
-
Segmentation and temporal structuring of events in early Spanish-Swedish bilinguals
- 2011
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Bilingualism. - : SAGE Publications. - 1367-0069 .- 1756-6878. ; 15:1, s. 56-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to examine patterns of segmentation and temporal structuring of events in early bilinguals. The participant group consists of 25 L1 Spanish - L2 Swedish adult bilinguals residing in Sweden, with ages of L2 acquisition ranging from 1 to 11 years. There were 15 native speakers of Swedish and 15 native speakers of Spanish engaged as monolingual controls. The participants provided online-retellings in both languages of an excerpt from the film Modern Times. The bilinguals' L1 and L2 retellings were compared with those of the monolingual speakers of the respective languages. The results indicated that the bilinguals resorted to the same event segmentation strategies in both L1 and L2, opting for an intermediate degree of event resolution. This behavior fell in between the monolingual Spanish high degree of resolution and the monolingual Swedish low degree of resolution. As for temporal structuring patterns, the results showed that the bilinguals in their L2 converged with the Swedish monolingual controls, linking the events by means of anaphoric adverbials (i.e., 'x then y'). The bilinguals also converged with the Spanish-speaking controls in their L1 perspectivation patterns, as both groups left the temporal relation between the events to be inferred and focused on ongoingness (i.e., now x, now y). These findings are discussed in terms of convergence and co-existence of conceptual patterns (Pavlenko, 1999, 2008).
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| 41. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Televised Whorf : Cognitive Restructuring in Advanced Foreign Language Learners as a Function of Audiovisual Media Exposure
- 2015
-
Ingår i: The Modern language journal. - : Wiley. - 0026-7902 .- 1540-4781. ; 99:S1, s. 123-137
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The encoding of goal-oriented motion events varies across different languages. Speakers of languages without grammatical aspect (e.g., Swedish) tend to mention motion endpoints when describing events (e.g., two nuns walk to a house) and attach importance to event endpoints when matching scenes from memory. Speakers of aspect languages (e.g., English), on the other hand, are more prone to direct attention to the ongoingness of motion events, which is reflected both in their event descriptions (e.g., two nuns are walking) and in their nonverbal similarity judgements. This study examines to what extent native speakers (L1) of Swedish (n=82) with English as a foreign language (FL) restructure their categorisation of goal-oriented motion as a function of their proficiency and experience with the English language (e.g., exposure, learning history, etc.). Seventeen monolingual native English speakers from the United Kingdom (UK) were recruited for comparison purposes. Data on motion event cognition were collected through a memory-based triads matching task in which a target scene with an intermediate degree of endpoint orientation was matched with two alternative scenes with low and high degrees of endpoint orientation. Results showed that the preference among the Swedish speakers of FL English to base their similarity judgements on ongoingness rather than event endpoints was correlated with exposure to English in everyday life, such that those who often watched television in English approximated the ongoingness preference of the English native speakers. These findings suggest that event cognition patterns may be restructured through exposure to FL audiovisual media. The results add to the emerging picture that learning a new language entails learning new ways of observing and reasoning about reality.
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| 42. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
The role of heritage language instruction for first language proficiency : a psycholinguistic perspective
- 2012
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1367-0050 .- 1747-7522. ; 15:5, s. 593-609
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the effects of weekly heritage language (HL) classes on first language (L1) proficiency in speakers who arrived in the second language (L2)-dominant setting before the onset of puberty. Two groups of L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish bilingual high school students living in Sweden participated in the study. One group currently attended HL classes once a week, whereas the other group was no longer doing so. The two groups did not differ with regard to the total number of years of HL class attendance, age of arrival in Sweden, length of residence or degree of L1 contact. Results from a grammaticality judgement test and a cloze test showed that the group that currently attended HL classes outperformed the non-attending group. Using a framework that emphasises heightened attrition susceptibility among speakers who lost contact with the L1-dominant setting before puberty, the study suggests that HL classes function as a factor that, all other things being equal, may counterweigh attrition susceptibility. Moreover, it is suggested that the effects of HL classes on L1 proficiency are short term rather than long term. That is to say, once attendance ceases the counterweighing effect is less visible.
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| 43. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
The role of language aptitude in first language attrition : The case of prepubescent attriters
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Applied Linguistics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0142-6001 .- 1477-450X. ; 31:3, s. 443-464
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While language aptitude has been investigated actively within second language research, there is a current dearth of research on the effects of aptitude in cases of attrition. The aim of the present investigation was to explore the role of language aptitude for L1 proficiency in speakers who experienced a break with their L1 setting prior to puberty. Twenty-five L1 SpanishL2 Swedish bilinguals residing in Sweden participated in the study, and 15 native speakers of Spanish living in Chile were recruited as controls. The L1 proficiency was measured by means of a grammaticality judgement test (GJT) and language aptitude data were obtained through the Swansea Language Aptitude Test (Meara et al. 2003). Results showed a positive correlation between GJT performance and language aptitude. More specifically, the bilinguals with above-average aptitude were more likely to score within the native range on the GJT than those with below-average aptitude. It was also seen that among the participants with below-average aptitude, GJT scores were related to daily L1 use. In view of these findings, we suggest that language aptitude has a compensatory function in language attrition, helping the attriter to retain a high level of L1 proficiency despite reduced L1 contact.
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| 44. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
The Whorfian Time Warp : Representing Duration Through the Language Hourglass
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Journal of experimental psychology. General. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0096-3445 .- 1939-2222. ; 146:7, s. 911-916
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How do humans construct their mental representations of the passage of time? The universalist account claims that abstract concepts like time are universal across humans. In contrast, the linguistic relativity hypothesis holds that speakers of different languages represent duration differently. The precise impact of language on duration representation is, however, unknown. Here, we show that language can have a powerful role in transforming humans' psychophysical experience of time. Contrary to the universalist account, we found language-specific interference in a duration reproduction task, where stimulus duration conflicted with its physical growth. When reproducing duration, Swedish speakers were misled by stimulus length, and Spanish speakers were misled by stimulus size/quantity. These patterns conform to preferred expressions of duration magnitude in these languages (Swedish: long/short time; Spanish: much/small time). Critically, Spanish-Swedish bilinguals performing the task in both languages showed different interference depending on language context. Such shifting behavior within the same individual reveals hitherto undocumented levels of flexibility in time representation. Finally, contrary to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, language interference was confined to difficult discriminations (i.e., when stimuli varied only subtly in duration and growth), and was eliminated when linguistic cues were removed from the task. These results reveal the malleable nature of human time representation as part of a highly adaptive information processing system.
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| 45. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Thinking for speaking
- 2024
-
Ingår i: The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics. - 9781003412373 - 9781032535005 ; , s. 37-46
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter provides an overview of current research on thinking-for-speaking and second language acquisition. The Thinking-for-Speaking hypothesis (Slobin, 1996) posits that whilst in the process of producing speech, speakers channel their attention according to the linguistic categories of their language. As a result, speakers of different languages think differently during speech production. With regards to L2 learning, the Thinking-for-Speaking hypothesis predicts that the language-specific thinking patterns acquired through the L1 are likely to prevent adult L2 learners from attaining target-like thinking patterns in the L2. Against this background, the chapter summarises the empirical research on this question, with a specific emphasis on motion event construal. It is shown that thinking-for-speaking in a target-like fashion in the L2 may be attained by learners at more advanced levels of L2 proficiency. The chapter ends with methodological observations for future research on thinking-for-speaking in an L2.
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| 46. |
- Bylund, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Unomathotholo or i-radio? Factors predicting the use of English loanwords among L1 isiXhosa - L2 English bilinguals
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0143-4632 .- 1747-7557. ; 35:2, s. 105-120
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines the use of English loanwords in L1 isiXhosa-L2 English bilinguals living in Cape Town, South Africa. The specific aim of the study is to investigate which individual background factors may increase or reduce the presence of English loanwords in a L1 isiXhosa speaker's repertoire. Data on English loanword use and individual background were collected through a picture naming task and a background questionnaire, respectively. Results showed that those speakers who frequently used English for interactive purposes were more prone to using English loanwords when naming pictures in isiXhosa. Moreover, it was documented that those who arrived at an early age in Cape Town (from the isiXhosa-dominant Eastern Cape Province) were also less prone to using isiXhosa words in the naming task. Marginal, negative effects were found for non-interactive isiXhosa use (i.e. radio, books, etc.) and attitudes towards English, such that those speakers with high indices on these variables used more often English loanwords. A marginal, positive effect of the presence of isiXhosa in primary and secondary school on the use of isiXhosa words was also found.
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| 47. |
- Bylund Spångberg, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Age differences in first language attrition : A maturational constraints perspective
- 2008
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates age-related differences in first language (L1) attrition in a second language (L2) setting. The thesis is based on four individual studies. The aim of each of the studies has been to examine aspects of age differences that to date have remained in the background of attrition research: Study I gives an overview of research on age differences in L1 attrition and suggests a reinterpretation of age effects in attrition, using as a point of departure critical period constructs. Study I also formulates hypotheses regarding the contour and timing of attrition susceptibility and its interplay with non-biological factors. Study II investigates L1 residual knowledge and L2 ultimate attainment in international adoptees. The results suggest that a) that L1 remnants may be found if relearning activities have taken place prior to testing; b) L2 learners who have experienced a complete cut-off in L1 contact do not attain higher L2 proficiency levels than learners who have stayed in contact with the L1. The results also indicate that the level of L1 reactivation and L2 ultimate attainment are related to age of adoption. Study III examines age effects on the retention of L1 event construal patterns. The results show that the onset of puberty is a turning point for the degree of conformity with native behaviour, i.e. those who arrived in the L2 setting before puberty were more likely to exhibit non-converging patterns than those who arrived after puberty. This finding suggests that in attrition conceptual proficiency is equally affected by age as are formal language skills. Finally, Study IV explores the role of language aptitude in prepubescent attriters. The results show that nativelike grammatical intuitions are connected to language aptitude, and that speakers with high levels of language aptitude rely less on L1 contact than do speakers with low levels of language aptitude in their retention of nativelike grammatical intuitions in the L1.
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| 48. |
- Bylund Spångberg, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Conceptualización de eventos en español y en sueco : Estudios sobre hablantes monolingües y bilingües
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with language-specific patterns in the selection and organization of information (i.e., conceptualization) reflected in the expression of events by monolingual and bilingual speakers of Spanish and Swedish. Previous research on language specificity in event conceptualization shows that speakers of languages with grammatical aspect exhibit fine-grained event segmentation and deictic temporal linkage patterns, whereas speakers of non-aspect languages resort to coarse-grained segmentation patterns and anaphoric linkage. This finding has led to the hypothesis that grammatical aspect induces specific event conceptualization patterns. The overall aim of the current thesis is, first, to test this hypothesis on Spanish and Swedish, and second, to extend this line of research to the domain of bilingualism. The thesis is based on four individual studies: Study I examines monolingual speakers of Spanish and Swedish. The results show that event conceptualization in these languages patterns with the dichotomy +/- grammatical aspect; Study II explores the relationship between endpoint encoding patterns and proficiency with aspectual contrasts in the Spanish of Spanish-Swedish bilinguals. The findings show that the less Spanish-like a participant’s endpoint encoding frequencies are, the less sensitive he/she is to aspectual contrasts; Study III explores the degree to which language-specific patterns of segmentation and temporal linking of events are fused/separated in Spanish-Swedish bilinguals. The results show that whereas the bilinguals resort to an event segmentation pattern that is midway between the Spanish fine-grained patterns and the Swedish coarse-grained patterns, they exhibit nativelike temporal linking patterns in both Spanish and Swedish; Study IV contextualizes some of the author’s studies from a general viewpoint, with the intention of illustrating the fruitfulness of extending the research on event conceptualization to the domain of bilingualism.
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| 49. |
|
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| 50. |
- Bylund Spångberg, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
-
Ultimate attainment of event construal patterns in speakers of L2 Swedish
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics. - 1697-0381. ; 8, s. 28-53
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates ultimate attainment of patterns of segmentation and temporal structuring of events in L2 speakers. The participant group consists of 35 L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish adult bilinguals living in Sweden, with ages of L2 acquisition ranging from 1 to 19 years. Fifteen native speakers of Swedish and 15 native speakers of Spanish were engaged as controls. The participants provided online-retellings of a film excerpt. The results showed that the L2 speakers resorted to an event segmentation strategy with an intermediate degree of event resolution, which fell in between the mono lingual Spanish high degree of resolution and the monolingual Swedish low degree of resolution. Regarding temporal structuring patterns, the results showed that the L2 speakers converged with the Swedish-speaking controls, linking the events by means of anaphoric adverbials (i.e., “x then y”). There was no effect of age of L2 acquisition on the L2 speakers’ degree of conformity with Swedish native speaker behaviour.
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