Specificity in Spanish

Abstract

Recent proposals argue that interface areas such as syntax/semantics and syntax/pragmatics are particularly difficult for adult learners, in comparison to purely syntactic phenomena (Sorace 2003, 2004). In contrast, other research shows that L2 learners are able to acquire target representations even when the interpretation is not readily available in the input (Borgonovo, Bruhn de Garavito and Prévost 2005, Dekydtspotter and Sprouse 2001). In this paper we add to the growing literature on the acquisition of interpretational properties by showing that adult L2 learners can acquire knowledge of the syntactic correlates of the semantic notion of specificity in constructions involving topicalisation and null objects in Spanish. The learners’ first language (L1) is Brazilian Portuguese, where specificity does not play the role in these constructions that it plays in Spanish. Results show that learners can go beyond their L1 with respect to the acquisition of interface phenomena, suggesting that native-like grammars are attainable in L2 acquisition.

Acquiring phenomena at the syntax/semantics interface in L2 Spanish

“…Thus, advanced learners of Spanish seem to be sensitive to the distribution of the preposition a in one context, the least complex one. This is in line with the studies by Borgonovo, et al (2005), Borgonovo, et al (2006) Dekydtspotter and Sprouse (2001) and Dekydtspotter, et al (1999and Dekydtspotter, et al ( /2000 showing that the interface phenomenon under investigation may be acquired. First how can we account for the difficulties L2 learners have with most of the conditions, and second, why do they find Condition 2 comparably easier?…”

“…In contrast to the studies above, some recent studies have revealed that native-like competence can be attained, even in areas that rely heavily on context for interpretation and involve the interfaces (Borgonovo, et al, 2005;Borgonovo, Bruhn de Garavito, Guijarro-Fuentes, Prévost & Valenzuela, 2006;Dekydtspotter & Sprouse, 2001;Dekydtspotter, et al, 1999Dekydtspotter, et al, /2000. For example, Borgonovo et al (2005) investigated the acquisition of mood (the distinction between indicative vs. subjunctive) in Spanish relative clauses by adult English learners of Spanish at different proficiency levels (8 intermediate, 8 advanced) compared to a group of 17 native speakers of Spanish using a Grammaticality Judgement and a Truth-Value Judgement task.…”

“…In a different study, Borgonovo et al (2006) investigated syntactic correlates of the semantic notion of specificity by looking at the acquisition of object drop and topicalisation by Brazilian Portuguese (BP) learners of Spanish as L2. In Spanish, specific objects may not be dropped, and topicalised specific DPs take the clitic left dislocation (CLLD) construction (Cinque, 1990).…”

“…However, another set of studies revealed that native-like grammars can be attained in structures involving the interfaces, such as in the acquisition of mood and the distinction between indicative vs. subjunctive in Spanish relative clauses (Borgonovo, et al, 2005), the acquisition of object drop and topicalisation in Spanish, which relates to the semantic notion of specificity (Borgonovo, et al, 2006), and the knowledge of event sensitivity associated with quantification at a distance in French (Dekydtspotter & Sprouse, 2001;Dekydtspotter, et al, 1999Dekydtspotter, et al, /2000. The above studies showed that L2 learners were able to acquire structures involving the interfaces.…”

A more careful look at the syntax–discourse interface

“…For example, Borgonovo et al (2006) use a very similar design to Valenzuela's sentence selection task. Their participants include 14 native speakers of Spanish and 12 Brazilian Portuguese learners of advanced proficiency.…”