The influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition: Focus on multilingualism

Abstract

This paper focuses on the advantages that bilinguals have over monolinguals when acquiring an additional language. Bilinguals are more experienced language learners and have potentially developed learning strategies to a larger extent than monolinguals. They also have a larger linguistic and intercultural repertoire at their disposal. In this paper the methodology and results of studies on the influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition (TLA) will be reviewed and their contribution to the study of multilingualism discussed. A new perspective, focus on multilingualism, is presented as a more appropriate way to analyse the effect of bilingualism on TLA. This perspective is holistic and focuses on multilingual speakers and their linguistic repertoires, including the interaction between their languages.

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“…Third language acquisition (TLA) is a relatively new dimension of SLA studies yet it is speedily thriving over a last score of years (Cenoz, 2013). TLA research endeavours to draw linkages within background languages and their potential role in language learning while underscoring the differences between L2 learning and L3 learning.…”

“…Cenoz (2013) while arguing whether 'bilinguals have advantages over monolinguals when learning an additional language' establishes that background knowledge makes them more experienced and is helpful to them in forming new knowledge. He gives an analogy of walking (L1) to learning how to drive (L2) and then to a broader task of driving a bus (L3), where prior knowledge of driving a vehicle can be quite useful in the next challenge of driving a bus as compared to a complete novice.…”

The effect of out-of-school media contact on language attitudes in multilingual adolescents: a complex psychosociolinguistic system

“…In doing so, the study is principally guided by the application of dynamic systems theory in applied linguistics (Larsen-Freeman, 1997;Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008;de Bot & LarsenFreeman, 2011), the Dynamic Model of Multilingualism (Herdna & Jessner, 2002), and the Focus on Multilingualism approach (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011a, 2011b, Gorter & Cenoz, 2011Cenoz, 2013). Systems theory and complexity approaches are effectively studies in holism which take the object of enquiry and treat it as a system which is sensitively dependent on such factors as time, initial conditions, self-organisation, and internal and external relationships with co-existing systems.…”

“…Systems theory and complexity approaches are effectively studies in holism which take the object of enquiry and treat it as a system which is sensitively dependent on such factors as time, initial conditions, self-organisation, and internal and external relationships with co-existing systems. The current study attempts to respond to influential voices from within multilingualism research that have called for work which takes a more holistic approach (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011a;Cenoz, 2013;Jessner, 2008aJessner, , 2013. We believe this approach is necessary to gain an enhanced understanding of multilingual development and to open new avenues for the implementation of multilingual education practices.…”

“…In the last few decades, multilingualism has come full circle in that it has been recognised by the international research community as a more accurate reflection of the reality of most human beings (Aronin & Singleton, 2012); it has consequently been subject to much broader and more profound investigation. However the approach adopted has, ironically, often been monolingual (Cook, 1997;Herdina & Jessner, 2002;Jessner, 2006Jessner, , 2008aLi Wei, 2011;Cenoz, 2013). Moreover, a lot of research in the field seems to have been suffering from a sort of Chomskian hangover, considering language acquisition to be a static, linear phenomenon which is independent from other factors.…”