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Reports a study carried out on bilingual adolescents in a school in the Basque Country in which the language of instruction is Basque. Spanish and English are taught starting in Grade 3. Results show that all students are highly competent in Basque and Spanish, but students who use Basque in more domains get the best scores in English. (Author/VWL)

Examines vowel systems of German-Spanish bilingual children to determine whether there is interaction between the two language systems. Given the differences in the vowel systems, which point to a more marked system in the case of German, two predictions are considered: 1) bilingual children will acquire the vowel length contrast in their German productions later than monolingual German-speaking children; 2) bilingual children will acquire Spanish vowels similarly to monolingual children. (Author/VWL)

Addresses bilingual phonological development in the prosodic field, by studying the transition from a single metrical foot to the production of one foot preceded by an unstressed syllable or to the production of two consecutive feet. Uses monolingual data to form a baseline comparison with the bilingual data Establishment of two different constraint hierarchies for the two languages studied, German and Spanish. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on syntactic regularities that underlie language alternations in Spanish-English bilingual speech, and the methodologies that may prove most reliable and informative in the exploration of this focus. Findings attest to the validity of the methodologies and of the elicited data. (Author/VWL)

Explores whether the functional element effect (Muysken, 1997), often observed in production, is replicated in on-line comprehension results. Compared results of published frequency counts involving Spanish-English code switches with comprehension-timed experimental results. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role of the Spanish discourse particle "no" for negotiating agreement and disagreement in Spanish-English bilingual conversations from Gibraltar. A sequential analysis of twelve conversational exchanges shows how language choice is an important linguistic resource for negotiating agreement and disagreement in interactions. (Author/VWL)

Examines the earliest uses of verbal morphology in Spanish, an inflectional language. Stringent criteria were applied to data from two children to determine what inflections are used productively. Analyses reveal that there is little productive command of verbal morphology at early ages, and that subjects begin with a single form per verb. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a project on trilingualism currently in progress. A brief literature review indicates the diversity of trilingualism and trilingual situations. The article then focuses on three sets of trilinguals in Melbourne, Australia, Dutch-German-English, Hungarian-German-English, and Italian-Spanish-English, and considers interlingual strategies employed by them, such as code switching and interlingual identification. (Author/VWL)

Aims and Objectives: Bilingual speakers that speak a null subject (Spanish) and a non-null subject language (English) may show some indeterminacy in referential choice in their nondominant language in comparison to monolingual speakers. The present study tests the production of referring expressions in the two languages of bilingual speakers (Spanish and English) to assess attainment at the discourse level and explore the role of language dominance on referential choice. Methodology: A group of 49 Spanish–English bilinguals participated in a picture description task in English and Spanish measuring referential choice in contexts of reference maintenance and topic-shift. Data and Analysis: The results of our study show that at a group level, bilingual speakers produced more underspecified references in maintenance contexts than English monolingual speakers and produced more overspecified references in topic-maintenance and topic-shift contexts than Spanish monolingual speakers. The results further show that language dominance in the target language is associated with more monolingual-like referential choice. Conclusions: We discuss the role of language dominance in the development of bilingual referential choice patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: Spanish subject pronoun expression (SPE) among Bube speakers in Equatorial Guinea has hardly been examined. Thus, the paper aims to (a) examine the SPE rate (b) and the linguistic and social predictors of SPE in this variety. Methodology: The data for the present study were collected using sociolinguistic interviews. These interviews lasted between 45 minutes and an hour. Data and analysis: The audio recordings of 18 bilinguals of Bube and Spanish in Equatorial Guinea were transcribed and analyzed using the Rbrul mixed-effects statistical software. Findings: The overt SPE rate of these bilingual speakers is 17.9%. This pronoun rate is one of the lowest ever found among bilinguals. The significant factors are grammatical person and number, ambiguity, the lexical content, and gender. The insignificant predictors were reference, reflexivity, and education. Originality: This is the first variationist study on Spanish SPE among Bube speakers in Equatorial Guinea. In this study, switch reference, a usually robust predictor, is insignificant among bilingual speakers. Significance: This study expands on the scarce research conducted on Equatoguinean Spanish and opens new avenues for exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study examines the licensing pattern and resulting syntactic distribution of the middle voice across object experiencer psych verbs in intermediate and advanced heritage Spanish bilinguals and Spanish-dominant sequential bilinguals. Design: Participants completed a judgment task with aural stimuli containing sentences in the middle voice with contrastive types of object experiencer psych verbs ([±change of state]). Data and analysis: Aggregate results from the judgment task were entered into a mixed-effects linear regression model with fixed effects of group and verb type. Individual results (by verb and participant) are also discussed. Conclusion: Heritage Speakers (HSs) at varying levels of proficiency display consistent knowledge of the licensing pattern that results in the syntactic distribution of the middle voice across object experiencer psych verbs. Variability in the data reflects lexical semantic representational differences for specific verbs in individual grammars. Originality: This study applies a recent lexical semantic account of object experiencer verbs in Spanish to a novel syntactic construction and fills a gap in the Spanish heritage literature by examining a previously unstudied phenomenon—the middle voice. This provides an opportunity to inform (1) questions related to the role of lexical semantics in the heritage grammar and (2) theoretical proposals related to the nature of variability in heritage language grammars. Implications: These data provide additional evidence that licensing patterns at the syntax-lexical semantics interface are an area of stability in the heritage grammar and underscore the role of variability in the input in the resulting adult bilingual grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study examines the role of age of first exposure and experience with input in the syntax of English–Spanish bilinguals. More specifically, I examine the production of clitic climbing constructions in Spanish (e.g., lo quiero ver "[I] want to see it" [Kayne; Rizzi]). Design/methodology: I compare two experimental groups of heritage speakers of Spanish (n = 16) and L2 Spanish learners (n = 17) from the United States (matched in proficiency) against a group of native Spanish speakers from Mexico (n = 20). A sentence completion task was employed to elicit proclitic sentences across four verbal conditions: two in which clitic climbing is possible but with a higher or lower probability of occurrence, and two in which proclitic placement is agrammatical. Data and analysis: Results show a strong tendency to avoid clitic climbing constructions across all testing conditions. Two logistic regression analyses report no differences across all groups, who only favored the proclisis in highly grammaticalized verbs; proficiency among the experimental groups was a predictor in the production of these sentences. Findings/conclusions: A different time of onset of first exposure to the second language and a different experience with linguistic input (heritage language acquisition vs L2 acquisition) do not appear to affect the production of complex proclitic sentences in Spanish. Originality: Previous studies have employed a few selected periphrastic conditions to elicit clitic climbing constructions among English–Spanish bilinguals. This study further expands the range of verbal matrices employed in the four testing conditions and uses a more controlled testing environment. Significance: This study adds adult bilingual data to the ongoing debate on whether an early exposure to the second language results in advantages in the morphosyntactic domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: The goals of this study are to examine attitudes toward Kaqchikel Maya and Spanish in domains of life in a village and a town in central Guatemala and to examine the influence of indigenous participants' attitudes toward Kaqchikel on Kaqchikel acquisition. Method: The study draws on fieldwork employing interviews and a sociolinguistic questionnaire. To investigate attitudes, we employed questions focusing on the importance of Kaqchikel and Spanish for domains of community life. The questionnaire also tested conversational ability in Kaqchikel. Data and analysis: Responses to the survey questions are examined in quantitative analyses of valuations of the importance of Kaqchikel and Spanish in domains for participants from the village and the town and of the importance of Kaqchikel for indigenous adults and students. Also gauged through quantitative analysis are correlations between attitudes toward the importance of Kaqchikel in the domains and acquired conversational ability in Kaqchikel of indigenous adults and students. Findings: The findings underscore differences and similarities in attitudes toward the two languages in the town and the village as well as differences in the attitudes of indigenous adults and students. The effects of instrumental and integrative attitudes toward Kaqchikel on Kaqchikel acquisition are highlighted for the students. Originality: Points of originality include the size of the participant sample (252), the breakdown of the sample by village and town, and by non-indigenous and indigenous participants and age groups. They include the focus on attitudes toward Kaqchikel as related to the acquisition of conversational ability in Kaqchikel for indigenous adults and students. Implications: The study confirms a shift in attitudes toward the importance of Kaqchikel for indigenous students compared to indigenous adults. For Kaqchikel-language programs for youth, the study underscores the need for fomenting awareness of the importance of Kaqchikel in domains of community life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: This study explored the extent to which bilingual language exposure and practice might alter the way in which bilingual first-generation adult speakers use deictic demonstratives in their first language (Spanish) after immersion in a new language environment (Norwegian). Fully developed L1 systems are expected to be stable and less susceptible to change or restructuring than child systems. In addition, core domains of a language such as deictic demonstrative reference are hypothesized to be more robust. Design: Participants were tested with the Spanish version of the memory game. They completed an ethnolinguistic background questionnaire with questions targeting demographic data, experience with language, and daily routines in language use. Data and analyses: Demonstrative use was analysed using binomial multilevel modelling, allowing residual variance to be partitioned into a between-participant component and a within-participant component. Findings: Results demonstrate a shift in the demonstrative system of Spanish native speakers who have resided in Norway for a median of 6.5 years. This shift is reflected in extensive use of the semantically underspecified item ese at the expense of the form aquel. The latter form is less frequent and highly context-dependent in corpora of the modern language. It can be hypothesized that first-generation speakers are faster in converging on a simplified system of deictic reference than the native speaker group tested in Spain, but this development parallels tendencies observed in the monolingual variety of the language. This faster shift may well be influenced and catalysed by bilingual language practice. Originality: This article addresses a gap in research on deictic terms under conditions of language attrition. It documents a restructuring of the deictic system in first-generation speakers of Spanish residing in another country. The results suggest that marking peri-personal space is a core feature of deictic systems across languages, also preserved under deictic system shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bringing linguistic experience into code-switching (CS) constraints, a new hypothesis considers cross-language variable equivalence, which arises from within-language variability. Bilingual choices are assessed for Spanish-English CS between clauses, where subordinating conjunctions may not be consistently equivalent.Equivalence exists at the main-and-adverbial clause junction, inasmuch as the conjunctions are consistently present and placed the same way in the two languages. Equivalence is variable with main-and-complement clauses, because English complementizer that is mostly absent. Tokens of clause combining were extracted from the prosodically transcribed speech of members of a long-standing community in northern New Mexico who use both languages in their everyday interactions. Bilingual clause combinations were compared with their unilingual counterparts produced by the same speakers, as benchmarks.Over 2,000 tokens of clause combining were coded for conjunction, subordinate clause type, prosodic connection, and CS direction for bilingual instances (n = 189).Bilinguals treat CS with complement and adverbial clauses differently. With complement clauses, the rate of CS is lower, prosodic separation is greater and, most notably, conjunction language choice is more asymmetrical. Spanish complementizer que is overwhelmingly selected over English that. In contrast, choice between causal conjunctions porque and (be)cause is affected by CS direction.The Variable Equivalence hypothesis states that bilinguals favor CS with the equivalent option from one of the languages that is more frequent and predictable in their combined linguistic experience, considering both languages.CS constraints are probabilistic (preferred CS sites) rather than categorical (permissible CS sites). The Variable Equivalence hypothesis accommodates variation in actual language use. Methodologically, comparing spontaneous CS with the same speakers’ unilingual production allows discovery of CS asymmetries. These asymmetries reveal quantitative bilingual preferences to switch at particular sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L2 learners who speak a null subject (L1 Spanish) and a non-null subject language (L2 English) may experience cross-linguistic interference from the L2 on L1 pronoun interpretation. In this study, we test pronoun interpretation in the L1 and L2 of adult learners, in comparison with two groups of monolingual speakers, to assess if L1 pronoun interpretation can change as a result of L2 acquisition at intermediate-advanced levels of L2 proficiency and in the absence of long L2 immersion.A group of L2 English speakers (L1 Spanish) participated in two offline sentence comprehension tasks where they interpreted pronouns in the L1 and L2. The results are compared with English and Spanish monolingual speakers.We find that adult English learners comprehend pronouns in their L1 (Spanish) differently than Spanish monolingual speakers, demonstrating a strong subject bias for interpreting null and overt pronouns. In addition, we show that pronoun interpretation patterns acquired in the L2 explain the changes to L1 interpretation biases.The results of this study significantly advance the understanding of the factors that contribute to bilingual language comprehension, showing the permeability of the L1 comprehension system at the discourse level as soon as the L2 sets in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Using generative syntactic theory regarding verb raising, predictions are made about adverb position in intra-sentential Spanish–English code-switching. Since both languages allow for non-raising, pre-verbal adverbs should be acceptably switched. However, since verb raising is only available in Spanish, post-verbal adverbs should only be allowed with a Spanish finite verb. Design/methodology/approach: Spanish–English early bilinguals (n = 24) completed a written acceptability judgment task with a 7-point Likert-type scale. The Spanish–English code-switched sentences contained a finite verb switched with a post-verbal or pre-verbal adverb. In addition, comparison sets of monolingual equivalents were tested, targeting adverb order in Spanish and English. Data and analysis: A total of 192 judgments were included in the analysis, and z -scores of the mean ratings provided by the participants were calculated. After a descriptive analysis of the results compared language and adverb order, statistical analyses were conducted via analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Findings/conclusions: Participants showed a preference for non-raising in English, while they accepted both orders in Spanish, but only with adverbs of completion and manner. For code-switching, non-raising was always acceptable, but verb raising varied. The availability of switched non-raising directly follows from the literature. However, the language of the finite verb did not predict availability of verb raising in code-switching. The results suggest that the language of the adverb is crucial to the availability of switching, not solely the verb. Originality: The status of adverbs in code-switching has been left relatively unexplored. This study provides important details regarding adverb position both in mixed Spanish–English utterances and in monolingual contexts for this particular bilingual population. Significance/implications: These findings have a broader impact by providing data about adverb-position preferences in Spanish for a different community of speakers. In particular, it shows even more variability in the idiosyncratic behavior of different adverbs in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: While previous research has shown that phonetic variation in language contact situations is affected by whether a word has a cognate in the contact language, this paper aims to show that such an effect is not monotonic. According to the usage-based model, items in memory are organized according to similarity, thus we anticipated that formally more similar cognates would show a stronger cognate effect. Methodology: This variationist sociophonetic study investigates the relationship between cognate similarity and phonetic realization. We examined this relationship in the bilingual community of Rivera, Uruguay, in which both Portuguese and Spanish are spoken with regularity. Specifically, we focused on intervocalic /d/, which in monolingual Spanish is realized as an approximant [ð̞] or phonetic zero, but in monolingual Brazilian Portuguese is produced as a stop [d] or, in most varieties, an affricate [ʤ] before [i]. Data and analysis: We analyzed a corpus of sociolinguistic interviews of the Spanish spoken in Rivera. Acoustic measurements were taken from approximately 60 tokens each from 40 different speakers. Using a linear mixed-effects model, we examined the relationship between several predictors and the degree of constriction of intervocalic /d/. Findings/conclusions: While there is an overall frequency effect whereby more frequent words exhibit less constriction of intervocalic /d/, as both frequency and cognate similarity increase, less constriction of intervocalic /d/ obtains. Therefore, frequent cognates in Portuguese that have very similar forms affect the production of intervocalic /d/ more so than other cognates. Originality: No previous study has demonstrated that the cognate effect on phonetic variation in a situation of language contact is regulated by form similarity between cognate pairs. Significance/implications: The data support the usage-based model in that similar cognates have more lexical connections and can therefore show greater influence on phonetic realization than can cognates that share less phonetic material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study examined whether school-aged second-generation heritage speakers exhibit knowledge of the semantic and pragmatic constraints on Spanish copula selection with adjectives, and whether experiential factors affect copula interpretation. Design/methodology/approach: Following a between-subjects design, we administered 2 Picture Selection Tasks to 50 second-generation bilingual children (ages 5;1–14;10) and 21 first-generation adults living in the same community in central Texas. Task 1 included real adjectives and Task 2 novel adjectives. We administered a morphosyntactic proficiency test in English and Spanish (BESA/BESA-ME) to the children and obtained language exposure and use data. Data and analysis: Using generalized linear mixed models, analyses compared bilingual children to first-generation adults in their selection of the temporary picture with each copula (ser vs. estar), and also examined the role of age, language exposure/use, and morphosyntactic proficiency. Findings/conclusions: Only children with high Spanish morphosyntactic proficiency approached adult-like sensitivity to the semantic and pragmatic distinctions between ser and estar with adjectives. Age, Spanish exposure and use, and English proficiency did not significantly influence performance on the tasks. Originality: This study provides the first detailed examination of the acquisition of copula selection with adjectives in Spanish-English school-aged heritage speakers living in the US. Significance/implications: This study offers evidence of the vulnerability of aspect, as instantiated in Spanish copula selection, among school-aged bilingual children. It also suggests low-proficiency children might be a catalyzing locus of the accelerated changes in copula use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This article analyses English–Spanish code-mixing in Gibraltar. I describe the distribution of clause-peripheral alternation patterns in order to demonstrate that there is a correlation between single age-groups and particular types of bilingual patterns. This is interpreted as a case of fusion. Methodology: By seeking a correlation between age groups and particular instances of bilingual speech, this study adopts an apparent-time perspective. Furthermore, it tries to combine the quantitative methodology adopted in sociolinguistic studies with the theoretical tools of the sociology of language that are involved in the description of linguistic repertoires. This provides an important key for the interpretation of fusion in this scenario. Data and analysis: The study was based on a corpus of nearly 20 h of interviews with bilingual speakers belonging to three age-groups. After identifying three qualitatively different bilingual patterns, which mainly differed in the presence or absence of pragmatic functions, I took into account their distribution across age groups. Findings and conclusions: The results showed that elderly speakers were associated with pragmatically motivated code-switching, while younger speakers were associated with cases of single-word peripheral switches that were not related to any discourse- or participant-related function. This may be interpreted as incipient fusion in the periphery of the clause, possibly determined by recent changes in the linguistic repertoire. Originality: This is the first study to have applied the fusion framework to the case of Gibraltar and is also one of the few that has analysed code-mixing in this scenario from a quantitative corpus-based perspective. Significance: The data presented here shed new light on the early stages of the fusion process, highlighting the correlation between the onset of this phenomenon and macro-sociolinguistic processes involving the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The main goal of this paper is to analyse how social factors determine the degree of occurrence of intonational features of Basque in Spanish in the Basque Country (i.e. Basque Spanish). Design/methodology/approach: We concentrate on information-seeking yes/no questions. In Castilian Spanish, these end in a rising contour, whereas in Basque they end in a rising–falling contour. The data were gathered through sociolinguistic interviews with 12 speakers of Basque Spanish with different linguistic profiles: monolingual Spanish; first language Spanish–second language Basque; and L1 Basque–L2 Spanish. Data and analysis: 172 information-seeking yes/no interrogatives were obtained from conversational speech. Their final intonational contours were annotated in the Spanish Tone and Break Index model of intonational analysis. Findings/conclusions: 79% of all information-seeking yes/no questions had final configurations with a rising–falling circumflex contour. Only 21% had the final rising contour of Castilian Spanish. Speakers differed in their frequency of occurrence of falling contours, but the differences did not correlate with the speakers' linguistic profile (monolingual vs bilingual). Rather, higher percentages of yes/no questions ending in a falling contour were found among speakers who had (a) a higher degree of contact with the Basque ethnolinguistic group, and (b) more positive attitudes towards the Basque language and the Basque ethnolinguistic group. Originality: Methodologically, this study is original because the intonational analysis is carried out on natural speech rather than on read or elicited speech. This study is also original from a theoretical point of view because it is the first one to underline the role that subjective factors such as linguistic attitudes play in the adoption of features of a language variety from another contact variety. Significance/implications: Our research opens up a path to continue investigating the weight of subjective social factors such as linguistic attitudes in explaining the variation in the influence of one language variety over another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research question: The aim of this study is to probe for language effects on bilingual episodic memory. The main research question is whether both languages of bilinguals are accessible and used as aids to memory regardless of which language is used for speaking, or whether each language used for verbalization affects memory in a language-specific way. Design/methodology/approach: Our methodology involves an experimental elicitation of event verbalizations and recall memory responses to video stimuli by English and Spanish monolinguals and proficient balanced bilinguals whose two languages are kept active throughout the experiment while they are describing what they see in one of the languages. Data and analysis: The data analysis shows that there is a main effect of language, that is, the recall was overall more accurate in Spanish-speaking situations than in the English ones. However, the significance of the effect comes exclusively from the comparison between English monolinguals versus the other two groups: Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals. Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals speaking either English or Spanish all had better recall than the English monolingual participants. Originality: Language effects on monolingual versus bilingual witness memory are seldom investigated and the current knowledge about bilingual episodic memory in general is very limited. Significance/implications: This study informs the theoretical assumptions related to monolingual and bilingual thinking-for-speaking research as well as offering, for the first time, empirical support towards our understanding of how bilinguals proficient in both languages "merge" their linguistic systems when storing information about events they witness in memory regardless of the language used to explicitly describe the event in verbalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study explores the assertion that bilingual mixed languages are only diachronically stable if they are not spoken together with both of the contributing source languages. Ecuadoran Media Lengua, which combines all-Quichua morphosyntax with nearly all lexical roots replaced by Spanish-derived forms, coexists in three communities with both Spanish and Quichua, having arrived in each community in successive generations. Methodology and design: Trilingual speakers (Quichua, Media Lengua, Spanish) participated in four interactive tasks: speeded translation, speeded acceptability judgments, language classification, and lexical decision. Data and analysis: For each task, the calculated rate of separation of Quichua and Media Lengua was the response variable for a series of linear mixed-effects models, with community (and when appropriate, age group) as a fixed effect. Findings/conclusions: The results suggest that a mixed language spoken together with the languages that supplied both the lexical roots and the morphosyntax can maintain its integrity for a generation or two, but the perceptual boundaries circumscribing the mixed language eventually become more permeable. They point to a significant correlation between the chronology of language contacts and the perceptual stability of Media Lengua, which is greatest when the only competing language is Quichua, somewhat less when Spanish is acquired later as the second language, and lowest when Spanish is one of the early acquired or native languages alongside Quichua. Originality: This is the first attempt to test the putative diachronic stability of a mixed language by means of synchronic experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Northern Pame (autonym: Xi'iuy) is an Otopamean language situated in the Mexican state of San Luís Potosí. Today over 90% of the Pame population speaks Spanish, and two-year-old children only speak Northern Pame in two Northern Pame villages. The paper explores differences in two-year-old Pame children's production of words in Northern Pame and Spanish in order to assess the possibility that developmental constraints and/or language shift influence the form and distribution of the children's words in the two languages. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on video recordings of five Northern Pame children around the age of 2;0. The adult speakers included one father and four mothers. Four hours of production data were analyzed from each of the five children. Data and Analysis: We analyzed the following: (1) the proportion of major lexical categories; (2) the use of the Spanish copula ser in Pame; (3) the mean segmental length of words in Pame and Spanish; and (4) the syllable structure of words in Pame and Spanish. Findings/Conclusions: The overall results demonstrate that the children's Pame and Spanish words have distinct linguistic properties. Originality: The study is the first to report acquisition data for the Northern Pame language. Northern Pame differs from Spanish on a wide range of lexical and grammatical features. The analysis includes four lexical features. The outcomes for these four features produce a multi-dimensional measure of language differentiation. Significance/Implications: The study shows that Northern Pame parents are successfully passing their home language to their children despite pressure from the contact language. The children acquired the features of Pame words even though some mothers produced over 40% of their nouns in Spanish. The Spanish vocabulary does not inhibit the children's developing Pame lexical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates the effects of bilingual language modes (or settings) on the speech production patterns of a group of early Catalan/Spanish bilinguals from Majorca, Spain. Our main research question was as follows: are bilingual speech patterns modulated by the level of (co-)activation of a bilingual's two languages? Design: Bilingual participants were classified as a function of their linguistic experience (or dominance), from Catalan- to Spanish-dominant. Subsequently, we recorded their speech in two experimental settings: a unilingual setting in which only Catalan words were uttered, and a bilingual setting in which both Catalan and Spanish words (cognates) were produced in random order. Data and analysis: The study examined the acoustic realization of Spanish and Catalan unstressed /a/, which surfaces as [a] in Spanish but is reduced to schwa, [ə], in Catalan. The acoustic characteristics of unstressed /a/ were explored across the two languages and the two experimental settings. Findings: Catalan unstressed /a/, which was similarly reduced to schwa in the speech of all participants, became slightly more similar to Spanish unstressed /a/ (i.e., it had a higher first formant) when produced alongside Spanish words (bilingual setting) than when produced in a Catalan unilingual setting. There were no effects of linguistic experience, and the effects of setting did not interact with experience. Originality: Very few studies have reported the effects of dynamic cross-linguistic interference in phonetic production, and even fewer have reported them with a phonetic variable resulting from a language-specific phonological process (unstressed vowel reduction) rather than a phonemic contrast. Implications: These findings suggest that cross-linguistic interaction is dynamic and modulated by language activation, and that an absence of dominance effects does not necessarily entail an absence of online cross-linguistic phonetic influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: We compare the performance of 600 bilingual children with and without language impairment relative to their level of current English input and output (EIO). Children were tested in both Spanish and English on measures of morphosyntax and semantics. Our aim was to examine whether children's language performance was differentially affected by the level of EIO and/or language ability. Methodology: Participants were drawn from three different studies of bilingual language impairment where children between the ages of 5 and 10 years were tested using a standardized test of morphosyntax and semantics in both languages. Standard scores were compared for each language in each domain. Data and analysis: Multivariate regression was used to compare main effects of ability (children with typical language development versus children with language impairment) and interactions with EIO. This analysis was followed by a comparison of EIO across the four language measures. Findings/conclusions: There were main effects of language impairment status and EIO. There were ability differences in slope for two measures (English semantics and Spanish morphosyntax), where children with language impairment had a flatter slope as related to EIO compared to children with typical development. For Spanish semantics and English morphosyntax, slopes relative to EIO were similar, although children with language impairment scored lower than those with typical development. Originality: We observed how children with and without language impairment performed on semantics and morphosyntax tasks relative to their EIO. Implications: The similar slopes across language measures of children with and without language impairment suggest that there is no disadvantage to divided input by ability. Where there were differences by ability, children with language impairment showed a flatter slope relative to their typically developing peers, suggesting that bilingual children with primary language impairment (PLI) may be somewhat advantaged relative to more monolingual children with PLI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Among the questions that remain open is whether bilingualism leads to simplification of alternatives in language in order to reduce cognitive load. This hypothesis has been supported by evidence showing that bilinguals generalize the Spanish copula estar 'to be' faster than monolinguals. Yet, other studies found no such clear trend. While conceptual transfer could account for the conflicting evidence in the literature, its role has not been demonstrated. Our study aims to fill this gap by testing simplification in Spanish copula choice among bilinguals and, in particular, the role of transfer. Design/methodology/approach: We used a contextualized copula choice task, comprising 28 sentences. Data and analysis: Sixty Romani–Spanish bilinguals from Mexico responded to the questionnaire in both Spanish and Romani. A control group of 62 Mexican Spanish monolinguals responded in Spanish. We constructed generalized linear mixed-effects models to analyse the results. Findings/conclusions: Analysis of the results reveals greater extension of estar among bilinguals for individual-level predicates as well as for traits not susceptible to change. Comparison of the responses of bilinguals (in Romani and in Spanish) and of Spanish monolinguals indicates that Romani could be reinforcing the generalization of estar in the Spanish responses of bilinguals. Originality: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine copula choice in bilingual mode. In addition, it brings evidence from an under-researched community with little normative pressure. Significance/implications: Our study shows that conceptual transfer may be driving the extension of estar among bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research questions: German and Spanish differ in lexicalization of object position in placement events (e.g. They stand/lay-put the binoculars on the shelf). Do native (L1) speakers of these languages show different recognition memory for object position in placement scenes ("Thinking for Speaking" (TFS))? And if so, can learning German as a second language (L2) improve memory accuracy? Originality: There is very little research on the effect of language on memory in L2 speakers and no such studies have focused on placement events. By adopting a short time course (750 ms) between the prime and recognition phase this study makes a methodological advancement. Design/Methodology/Approach: We employed a design with L1 speakers (N = 54) of German and Spanish, and a group of Spanish L2 learners (N = 123) of German. Participants were presented with a two-phased memory task with minimum delay, with language and pictures showing placement events. Following the direction indicated by German placement verbs we changed position of objects in the picture recognition phase. L2 German speakers received a form-focused instruction on German placement verbs (stand/lay) before the memory task. Data and Analysis: We analysed recognition accuracy for object position changes. Findings/Conclusions: Results showed that L1 German speakers had more accurate recognition memory for object position changes than L1 Spanish speakers. When Spanish learners of L2 German performed the experiment in German, their accuracy exceeded L1 German speakers' scores. Significance/Implications: The findings provide support for TFS effects on memory for object position in placement events for L1 speakers and show accuracy advantages for L2 speakers. Future studies should consider employing tasks with short time courses as the one used in this paper, in order to establish a base of controlled and reliable findings to unravel the linguistic relativity literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study aims to improve our understanding of common switching patterns by examining determiner–noun–adjective complexes in code-switching (CS) in three language pairs (Welsh–English, Spanish–English and Papiamento–Dutch). The languages differ in gender and noun–adjective word order in the noun phrase (NP): (a) Spanish, Welsh, and Dutch have gender; English and Papiamento do not; (b) Spanish, Welsh, and Papiamento prefer post-nominal adjectives; Dutch and English, prenominal ones. We test predictions on determiner language and adjective order derived from generativist accounts and the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) approach. Design/methodology/approach: We draw on three publicly available spoken corpora. For the purposes of these analyses, we re-coded all three datasets identically. From the three re-coded corpora we extracted all monolingual and mixed simplex NPs (DetN) and complex NPs with determiners (determiner–adjective–noun (DetAN/NA)). We then examined the surrounding clause for each to determine the matrix language based on the finite verb. Data and analysis: We analysed the data using a linear regression model in R statistical software to examine the distribution of languages across word class and word order in the corpora. Findings/conclusions: Overall, the generativist predictions are borne out regarding adjective positions but not determiners and the MLF accounts for more of the data. We explore extra-linguistic explanations for the patterns observed. Originality: The current study has provided new empirical data on nominal CS from language pairs not previously considered. Significance/implications: This study has revealed robust patterns across three corpora and taken a step towards disentangling two theoretical accounts. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of comparing multiple language pairs using similar coding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: The current study's aim was to test the ambiguity and dominance theories of transfer by examining compound noun production and comprehension by bilinguals acquiring Spanish and Japanese, as the word order of nominal compounds in these languages is always reversed, making them grammatically and theoretically unambiguous. Methodology: Ten Spanish-Japanese bilingual preschoolers completed production and comprehension elicitation tasks. Data and Analysis: The research subjects' reversal rates were compared with those of age- and vocabulary-matched Japanese monolinguals. Findings/Conclusions: The results demonstrate that transfers occur from Spanish to Japanese in both production and comprehension, and that there are no dominance effects on the degree of cross-linguistic influence. Originality: There have been no previous studies on cross-linguistic transfer in Spanish-Japanese bilingual children. Significance/Implications: Transfer and directionality are not affected by relative vocabulary level; the concept of dominance should be (re)considered carefully especially for young bilinguals whose language inputs are greatly imbalanced and variable. Moreover, what is considered grammatically unambiguous by adults may be ambiguous for children acquiring such knowledge bilingually, which raises the need to consider structures in both languages as affecting the acquisition of language in young bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Spanish and English narrative skills of young (mean age = 5.65 years) Spanish-English bilinguals were compared to functionally monolingual Spanish and English-only speakers' narrative skills, respectively (n = 63). Method: Spanish and English oral retellings, elicited at the beginning and end of the kindergarten year, were transcribed and coded in terms of discourse- (story structure complexity), semantic-(word diversity) and grammatical-level (lexical and grammatical errors, revisions) skills. Data and analysis: Repeated measures ANOVAs, with Time (beginning-, end-of-year) and Language Status (bilingual and either functionally monolingual Spanish or English monolingual) or Language (English, Spanish) as factors, were used to compare children's narratives in terms of story structure complexity, word diversity, errors and revisions. Pearson correlations examined the relation of revisions to word diversity and errors. Results: Time comparisons revealed significant gains in story structure complexity, with no statistically significant difference between bilinguals' and monolinguals' complexity scores. Bilinguals' stories were also not different between English and Spanish. Yet, bilinguals included more errors in English than did English monolinguals, while engaging in a comparable number of revisions. Moreover, despite comparable error rates with Spanish monolinguals, bilinguals included more lexical and grammatical revisions in Spanish. Revisions and word diversity were positively correlated; no relation was found between revisions and errors. Conclusions: The relative differences in revisions between bilinguals' and Spanish monolinguals' narratives, versus English monolinguals', highlight the linguistic strengths of bilinguals. In particular, bilinguals' tendency to engage in revisions as they attempt to increase their language complexity, suggests that revisions require advanced linguistic knowledge, not language uncertainty. Originality: The children in this study were considered language minority learners in the United States. Moving past accounts of minority learners' "low" performance on oral language and reading comprehension, our study findings reveal evidence of "advanced" linguistic knowledge for bilingual speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives/research questions: We used two types of acceptability judgments to experimentally test the predictions of two theoretical models of code-switching regarding the surface realization of the determiner in nominal constructions: lexicalist approaches within the Minimalist Program (MP) versus the Bilingual NP Hypothesis within the Matrix Language Frame Model (MLF). Methodology: Two separate groups of 40 early Spanish-English bilinguals evaluated the acceptability of sentences with code-switches between the determiner and the noun that reflected the predictions of the MP model, the MLF, of both or none. The first group rated them on a Likert scale, while the second group performed a two-alternative forced-choice acceptability task (2AFC). Data and analysis: Ratings from the Likert ratings were subjected to an analysis of variance while results from the 2AFC were analyzed using Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment. Conclusions: Both experiments yielded converging evidence supporting the predictions of the MLF. Results from the 2AFC provided a more detailed picture that suggests also a (smaller) contribution of the language of the determiner. Originality: This is the first study to use acceptability judgments to directly contrast the predictions of these major theoretical models regarding switches between determiner and noun. An additional novelty is the use of the 2AFC and Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment, which yielded a more detailed picture than the more commonly used Likert-scale ratings. Implications: Our results provide further support for Eppler, Luescher, and Deuchar's recent claim that we can only advance our understanding of grammaticality in code-switching if we combine the insights of the different frameworks rather than considering them in isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the vast majority of research on the linguistic abilities of heritage speakers has focused on young adults whose heritage language is no longer developing. These adults began their journey as bilingual children acquiring the heritage language with the majority language simultaneously since birth or sequentially, as a second language. If longitudinal studies are not always feasible, linking research on the structural development of bilingual pre-school children with research on young adult heritage speakers adds a much needed perspective to understand the initial state and the end state of heritage language development. The purpose of this study is to connect the beginning of heritage language development with its ultimate attainment by comparing the expression of subjects in Spanish in 15 school-age bilingual children and 29 young adult heritage speakers, all of them simultaneous bilinguals with English as the dominant language and Spanish as the weaker language. The oral production of null and overt subjects by child and adult heritage speakers was compared to that of age-matched monolingual speakers in Mexico (20 children, 20 adults). To provide a wider context the study includes a group of 21 adult immigrants, who could also potentially influence the input to the heritage speakers. The results confirm that discourse pragmatic properties of subject expression in Spanish are vulnerable to incomplete acquisition and permanent optionality in child and adult bilingual grammars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates heritage speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands regarding their knowledge of Spanish mood. Previous research has demonstrated that heritage speakers of Spanish in the US have problems with mood, especially subjunctive mood and particularly in contexts where choice of mood is variable and depends on semantic and pragmatic factors. Moreover, heritage speakers are often reported to experience fewer problems with oral production tasks tapping into implicit knowledge than with judgment tasks targeting metalinguistic knowledge. This study aims to investigate whether these patterns can be confirmed for heritage speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands. Methodology: In all, 17 heritage speakers from the Netherlands and 18 monolingual speakers of Spanish completed a contextualized elicited production task. Each item contained a context targeting either indicative or subjunctive mood. Below each context followed the beginning of a sentence which the participants were instructed to complete. Both obligatory and variable uses of mood were included. The results were compared to findings from a contextualized scalar acceptability judgment task described in an earlier study using the same conditions and the same participants. Data and analysis: All responses were coded as felicitous or infelicitous given the accompanying context and were analyzed using mixed effects modeling. The results demonstrate that the heritage speakers are less accurate in their choice of mood than monolingual speakers, particularly on subjunctive mood and in variable contexts. Furthermore, heritage speakers deviated more from the monolingual patterns in the production task than in the judgment task. Findings/conclusion: These results confirm several patterns attested for heritage speakers of Spanish in the US, namely the increased vulnerability of subjunctive mood and in contexts where mood is not obligatorily selected. However, in contrast to previous literature, this study reports better performance on a metalinguistic judgment task than on an oral production task. This finding is attributed to differences in societal circumstances between both heritage speaker populations. Implications of the research: This study confirms the heterogeneity of heritage speakers as a population and emphasizes the importance of taking societal circumstances into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study aims to explore language attitudes among speakers of Shipibo, an Amazonian indigenous language from the Panoan family, in the community of Cantagallo in the city of Lima, an urban, Spanish-dominant environment. The study is motivated by the paucity of studies on language attitudes in urban indigenous communities. The Cantagallo Shipibo community was settled in the early 2000s and temporarily relocated in 2017. Methodology: Interviews were conducted based on questionnaires with two groups of participants in 2002 and 2017, 60 in total, focusing on their attitudes toward Shipibo and Spanish. Some of the participants answered the questionnaires both times, others answered only once. Responses were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Open-ended responses were classified into similar categories and tallied. Findings: Participants showed positive attitudes toward Shipibo-Konibo in 2002 and 2017, and strong identification with it, but language shift toward Spanish is now taking place, especially among the second generation. This development has triggered perceived changes in the performance aspects of linguistic identity. Furthermore, while in 2002 attitudes toward Spanish were mostly positive, in 2017 some negative attitudes toward the majority language emerged along with the perception of discrimination against the Shipibo-Konibo. Originality: The study’s originality rests on tracing the evolution of this community’s perspectives on language use from shortly after its arrival in Cantagallo, Lima, to its final relocation. Furthermore, few other studies have engaged this Shipibo community in Lima regarding language attitudes. Significance: The project highlights the importance of different factors in the successful language maintenance in this context. Specifically, although speakers still have positive attitudes toward Shipibo, they also see increasing advantages to speaking Spanish, a clear case of utility-maximization. Limitations: Although the study provides important insights, its methodology (a questionnaire/interview) gives a partial view of the language attitudes and maintenance in this community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research question: This paper’s objective is to offer new insights into the effects of language on memory for causation events in a second language (L2) context. The research was driven by the question of whether proficient L2 users acquired L2 thinking-for-speaking-and-remembering strategies along with the relevant expressions for different types of causation (intentional versus non-intentional). Design/methodology/approach: The cognitive domain of causation is an ideal platform for this investigation, since the lexicalisation of causation differs clearly in the two languages under consideration, English and Spanish. Spanish speakers always distinguish between intentional and non-intentional events through the use of different constructions. The English pattern of lexicalisation in this domain often leaves intentionality unspecified. Our methodology involves an experimental elicitation of event verbalisations and recall memory responses to video stimuli by English and Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals. Data and analysis: The analysis has shown that the Spanish monolinguals and first language (L1) Spanish/L2 English speakers always distinguished between intentional and non-intentional events, while the English monolinguals and L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers generally used expressions that were underspecified with regard to intentionality. Findings/conclusions: All populations used their habitual language patterns as an aid to memory. Spanish monolingual had better recall than their English peers. L2 speakers were mainly relying on the L1 in spite of speaking only the L2 during the experiment. Originality: Possible effects of these typological differences between an L1 and an L2 on speaker recall memory have not been investigated before. Significance/implications: The research presented in this paper informs the theoretical assumptions related to the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis by showing empirically that late bilinguals adhere to their L1 patterns as an aid to memory while speaking in their L2. This novel finding contributes to an improved understanding of language processing and language use among late bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study investigated whether language-specific syllable type frequency and complexity exerted cross-language influence on Spanish–English bilingual children’s acquisition of syllable structure. Design/methodology/approach: We compared the accuracy of bilingual and monolingual children’s singleton coda and onset cluster productions from Spanish and English single words elicited via a picture-naming task. Task stimuli provided multiple opportunities to produce all possible singleton coda and onset cluster types in each language. Data and analysis: Ten typically developing Spanish–English bilingual children (ages: 2;01–4;08) completed the task in each language. Five Spanish and 12 English age-matched monolingual peers completed the same task in their respective languages. Data were analyzed using mixed effects logistic regression. Analyses compared bilinguals’ Spanish and English singleton coda and onset cluster production accuracy rates to those of monolinguals. Findings/conclusions: Our results indicate that interaction occurred in bilinguals’ syllable structure acquisition in both languages. Bilinguals’ acquisition of singleton codas was accelerated relative to monolinguals’ in Spanish. Furthermore, bilinguals’ acquisition of complex onsets was accelerated in both Spanish and English. Results did not suggest that bilinguals’ acquisition of English singleton codas was delayed. Originality: This is the first study to show that exposure to patterns of linguistic complexity specific to each language can accelerate bilinguals’ acquisition of phonological structure in both languages. Significance/implications: Our findings demonstrate that cross-language differences in complexity influence how interaction appears during bilinguals’ phonological acquisition, and suggest further investigation regarding the influence of frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We investigate the extent to which L1 versus adult L2 phonological systems resist influence from an L3. We test the Phonological Permeability Hypothesis (Cabrelli Amaro & Rothman, 2010), which states that adult L2 phonological systems are different from L1 systems with regards to instability. Design/Methodology/Approach: To isolate the variable of age of acquisition, we examined the acquisition of L3 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) by two types of sequential bilinguals: L1 English/L2 Spanish, L1 Spanish/L2 English. We tested perception via a forced-choice goodness task and production via a delayed repetition task. First, we assessed acquisition of the phonological property in BP (in this case, word-final vowel reduction, and excluded learners’ data that was not target-like in BP. We then tested the learners’ Spanish to determine the level of BP influence. Data and analysis: Perception data were analyzed for accuracy and reaction time. Production data were analyzed acoustically for formant structure, duration, and intensity. We compared L1 English/L2 Spanish data (n=15) with L1 Spanish/L2 English data (n=8), and with Spanish (n=11) and BP controls (n=14). Findings/Conclusions: While data from the preference task do not signal instability of perception for early or late acquirers of Spanish, L2 Spanish production data for vowel height measured differs from the L1 Spanish and Spanish control data. We take this as preliminary support for our hypothesis. Originality: By comparing L1 and L2 vulnerability to L3 influence, this study takes a novel approach to the debate over the constitution of phonological systems acquired in childhood versus in adulthood. Significance/Implications: The novel methodology implemented, together with these empirical findings, will afford further development of a research program dedicated to L3 bidirectional influence and the study of what L3 acquisition can tell us about language acquisition more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This study aims to redress the paucity of research on the semantics of loanwords, by extending and empirically testing Backus's ((2001). The role of semantic specificity in insertional codeswitching: Evidence from Dutch-Turkish. Jacobson, Rodolfo (Hg): Codeswitching Worldwide. Bd, 2, 125-154) Specificity Hypothesis - 'Embedded language elements in codeswitching have a high degree of semantic specificity' (p. 128). Approach: Adopting a concept-based approach to examine loanwords in a large, reliable corpus, the study pursues the following question: Do loanwords have a high degree of semantic specificity relative to their receiving-language equivalents? Specificity is operationalized as an entropy measure of the target word's environment, the assumption being that more specific words have less variety in their surrounding context. Data and analysis: To test this hypothesis, Anglicisms in a 24-million-word newspaper corpus of Argentine Spanish were processed in three stages: detecting loanwords, selecting semantic equivalents, and measuring specificity. Findings/conclusions: A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test revealed that loanwords receive significantly lower entropy scores, that is, they are more specific than their Spanish equivalents. The results suggest a possible motive for adopting loanwords when terms already exist in the source language, namely, to utilize words that provide more nuanced meaning. Originality: Methodologically, this study offers innovative applications of computational methods to loanword research, employing a distributional model to measure entropy. Theoretically, it addresses an underrepresented aspect of loanword adoption, semantics, by extending Backus's hypothesis to loanwords and increasing its scope to data often viewed as 'monolingual'. Significance/implications: The conclusions offer novel perspectives on loanwords with existing semantic equivalents, often viewed as 'unnecessary' when compared to loanwords that introduce new concepts into the recipient language (e.g. blog). With the notion of specificity, we may understand these loanwords as disruptors to the semantic system of the recipient language, dividing up the semantic space formerly occupied solely by the native equivalent, thus increasing the level of nuance expressed in the original concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study investigated the acquisition of Spanish Differential Object Marking (DOM) by bilingual and monolingual Spanish teenagers, evaluating to which extent their knowledge of DOM can be explained by different theories of acquisition. Design/Methodology/Approach: Two experiments with bilingual and monolingual Spanish teenagers (ages 10 to 15) were conducted. The experiments included an Elicited Production Completion Task, in which a space was to either be filled with an object marker or left blank, and a Context-Matching Acceptability Judgment Task. Data and Analysis: 54 subjects (44 bilinguals and 10 monolinguals) were tested. For both tasks, there were 6 conditions testing different syntactic–semantic features that trigger DOM (test items n = 42 in each task). The data were analysed with linear regressions and repeated measures analyses of variance. Findings/Conclusions: This study’s results show that bilingual teenagers do not demonstrate significant differences from age-matched monolinguals in their competence regarding the syntactic–semantic properties of DOM. Both groups are below ceiling in showing evidence of knowledge about all the syntactic–semantic features involved in DOM, indicating the possibility of a significant delay beyond childhood in their acquisition. Originality: There are few previous studies on the acquisition of DOM, and none which consider the full range of features and specific population considered here. Work by Montrul focuses on the animacy feature, while Guijarro-Fuentes considers the full range of features, but for adult L2 learners of Spanish. Significance/Implications: This study shows that the Interface Vulnerability Hypothesis, the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis, the Full Access/Full Transfer Hypothesis and the Interpretability Hypothesis have limitations in explaining its results. Instead, a feature-based approach is proposed in which the specification of features beyond animacy raises difficulties for the acquisition of DOM until late childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: This paper explores one dimension of language maintenance among college-aged heritage speakers of Spanish (HSS) in three communities of the U.S. Midwest. The aim was to understand whether Spanish was relevant at a point in life in which they were developing their own networks away from their families. Research questions: Were reading and writing in Spanish relevant for the participants? Did they use Spanish when on social media? Did they text in Spanish? Was Spanish relevant for them when consuming content on electronic media? Methodology: This analysis is part of a larger study on HSS in communities of recent Latino settlement. Respondents participated in an oral interview and responded to an online survey. Data and analysis: Results presented here come from a study designed to gather data on reported interlocutors, reading and writing, electronic media consumption, and social media use. Respondents were 71 HSS between the ages of 19 and 29. Results were compared with two control groups: 23 L2 speakers and 24 native speakers attending the same schools. Higher relevance was assumed when an event was reported closest to the moment of response. Reading and writing were classified as school, personal interest, employment, other. Relevance as related to social media, music, and internet use was determined by reported frequency. Findings: Highest relevance was reported for texting and listening to music; lowest was reported for consumption of internet content. Results for texting, social media and personal interest reading/writing suggest that for these speakers Spanish was viable for accrual of bonding social capital. Reading/writing reports suggest that for many, Spanish was also viable to attain specific academic goals. Environmental pressures to shift are evidenced in the uses not (or barely) reported: reading/writing related to work, religion and daily living, and consumption of internet content. Originality: This paper focuses on maintenance of relevance of a heritage language in the first stage of adult life. Implications: Results suggest that in using Spanish, respondents were not bound by physical context or immediate availability of interlocutors, but by their perceptions of viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work an empirical study grounded in the principles and methods of the comparative variationist framework is conducted to measure the scope of language contact as a factor constraining some potentially diverging uses of a Spanish verbal periphrasis that has undergone a sharp decline over the last century (haber de plus infinitive). The analysis is based on three independent samples of text that correspond to three dialectal areas of peninsular Spanish (monolingual zones, Catalan-speaking linguistic territories and the north-western linguistic area). These samples, extracted from a corpus made up of texts of communicative immediacy from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, confirm the existence of a certain linguistic convergence in the expressive habits of the speakers in the bilingual communities. In each region, however, the outcomes are different, due to parallel differences in the structural position of the periphrasis in each language. However, a thorough analysis of the variable context that surrounds the periphrasis shows that the observed differences do not affect the essence of the underlying grammar of this variant, whose decline (which favours tener que plus infinitive and becomes faster as the 20th century advances) is constrained by identical linguistic and extralinguistic conditioning factors in all the dialectal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 acceptability and interpretation of null objects. The three languages involved in the study display different semantic requirements for the target structure, with Basque allowing for a null object option across-the-board, Spanish only under certain semantic conditions, and English disallowing it in the standard variety. Two trilingual, one bilingual and a control group (n = 119) rated experimental items embedded in context, presented in a written and aural format on a computer screen. Findings point to the successful acquisition of the target structure, as well as a clear influence of Spanish in the three experimental groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the New Mexico Spanish-English Bilingual Corpus, the present paper examines the variable position of the 1sg Spanish subject pronoun yo—pre- versus post-verbal—to consider the effect that code-switching may have on structural change. In an analysis of close to 700 tokens of yo, a rate of 16% post-positioning is found, which is within the range of post-position in non-contact varieties and thus contraindicative of the convergence hypothesis, in accordance with which the almost exclusive use of preverbal subject pronouns in English would predict lower rates of post-verbal yo in a converged contact variety. Moreover, by testing factors hypothesized to account for choice of post-posing yo using multivariate analysis, it is shown that bilinguals display similar constraints on yo post-positioning in New Mexican Spanish as monolingual speakers of Spanish, providing stronger support for an anti-convergence account. Results are discussed in terms of bilingual parallel activation, syntactic priming, and construction grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the bilingual compound verb hacer ‘to do’+VerbEng, consisting of the Spanish verb hacer ‘do’ and a bare English infinitive (e.g. hacer smoke ‘to smoke’). In studies of Spanish/English bilingual speech, hacer+VerbEng has received attention due to its linguistically hybrid nature. Examining 116 tokens of hacer+VerbEng from 12 speakers of the New Mexico Spanish-English Bilingual Corpus, we test the claim that this construction has developed out of a higher cognitive load or lexical gap experienced by bilingual speakers, create a discourse profile of the construction, and propose an overview of the bilingual behaviors that contribute to the emergence of this bilingual compound verb. The construction is not found in conjunction with significantly higher rates of disfluencies, which weakens the previously made assertions that it is produced to compensate for a lexical gap. We find that hacer+VerbEng is a productive bilingual construction in which hacer serves as a tense, aspect and mood marker and the English infinitive provides the lexical content. Linguistic behavioral profiles reveal that combining languages within a single prosodic unit is correlated with higher rates of hacer+VerbEng. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we test the hypothesis that code-switching leads to phonological convergence by examining voice onset time (VOT) realization in the spontaneous code-switched speech of New Mexican Spanish-English bilinguals. We find that average VOT duration values in New Mexican Spanish fall within the range typical of non-contact varieties of the language, while New Mexican English displays VOT values in the low range of typical non-contact English. When we examine the VOT values of Spanish- and English-language words at varying degrees of proximity to code-switch points, we find a similar asymmetry. In Spanish, no effect of recent code-switching is evident. In English, conversely, close proximity to code-switch points results in a significant reduction in VOT values, i.e. in the direction of Spanish. We argue that while the data studied here do not directly demonstrate a causal connection between code-switching and long-term phonological convergence, they would not be inconsistent with such a view. We discuss a number of possible causes for the observed asymmetry between Spanish and English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an examination of morphosyntactic factors that are generally understood to measure grammatical integration—and therefore used to help determine the status of other-language-origin nouns as borrowings or code-switches—through the lens of discourse, semantics, and lexical patterns. A total of 820 lone English-origin nouns surrounded by otherwise Spanish discourse are compared to Spanish and English nouns from the recorded speech of the same bilingual speakers in New Mexico. The semantic domains most open to English-origin nouns include both those traditionally expected, such as technology, and those generally thought to be unborrowable, such as kinship terms. In the case of determiner patterning, lone English-origin nouns’ propensity to occur with indefinite articles or as bare is linked to use in a nonreferential predicating function. Regarding gender, the preference for masculine assignment for lone English-origin nouns is tied to both nonreferentiality and the general patterns found in Spanish. The impact is felt here not from English, but from the conventions of the local community. Among their many functions, these nouns are best suited in this community for naming kin, classifying individuals as belonging to a certain occupation, and creating verbal compounds. It is argued that the morphosyntactic patterns found reflect the community norms, in which English-origin nouns tend to perform certain discourse functions. Systematic quantitative analysis thus reveals the powerful role of discourse referentiality of nominal forms, in tandem with local practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “cognate facilitation effect” refers to the advantage cognate words have over non-cognates in speed of recognition and production of words during the performance of multiple oral and written language tasks. It has been demonstrated that bilinguals produce and recognize cognates faster than non-cognates. Questions remain about the variables affecting the cognate facilitation effect. The present study investigated whether naming ability in a relatively large sample of balanced and non-balanced Spanish–English bilinguals is affected by the cognate status of the target words and whether the magnitude of this effect is influenced by bilinguals’ relative levels of proficiency in their two languages. One hundred and three (53 balanced, 50 non-balanced) participants (mean age= 42.52; SD =19.09) from South Florida were administered the Boston Naming Test (BNT) in Spanish and English. Half of the sample received the English version first and the other half the Spanish version first. Results showed that whereas the cognate effect in the balanced bilinguals is similar in both languages, the non-balanced group showed a more prominent cognate effect in the non-preferred language. Current results may contribute to the understanding of language representation in bilinguals. Results demonstrated that the retrieval of words in the BNT is influenced by the knowledge of another language and that this effect seems to be mediated by how balanced the bilingual is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the prosody of focus in the Spanish of 16 Quechua-Spanish bilinguals near Cusco, Peru. Data come from a dialogue game that involved noun phrases consisting of a noun and an adjective. The questions in the game elicited broad focus, contrastive focus on the noun (non-final position) and contrastive focus on the adjective (final position). The phonetic analysis in Praat included peak alignment, peak height, local range and duration of the stressed syllable and word. The study revealed that Cusco Spanish differs from other Spanish varieties. In other Spanish varieties, contrastive focus is marked by early peak alignment, whereas broad focus involves a late peak on the non-final word. Furthermore, in other Spanish varieties contrastive focus is indicated by a higher F0 maximum, a wider local range, post-focal pitch reduction and a longer duration of the stressed syllable/word. For Cusco Spanish no phonological contrast between early and late peak alignment was found. However, peak alignment on the adjective in contrastive focus was significantly earlier than in the two other contexts. For women, similar results were found for the noun in contrastive focus. An additional prominence-lending feature marking contrastive focus concerned duration of the final word. Furthermore, the results revealed a higher F0 maximum for broad focus than for contrastive focus. The findings suggest a prosodic change, which is possibly due to contact with Quechua. The study contributes to research on information structure, prosody and contact-induced language change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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) findings confirm that assumption. In our replication of Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou’s study, we divide Spanish native speakers into those who accept resumptives and those who do not; then we look at their acceptance of gaps and resumptives in English. The results indicate that both groups of advanced learners, those that do and those that don’t have resumptives in their individual grammars, have acquired the ungrammaticality of resumptives in English, although there may be lingering native language effects. The effects of d-linking, animacy, syntactic function of the resumptive/gap (subject vs. object), and presence of the complementizer that are also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]