What is the source of L1 attrition? The effect of recent L1 re-exposure on Spanish speakers under L1 attrition

Abstract

The recent hypothesis that L1 attrition affects the ability to process interface structures but not knowledge representations (Sorace, 2011) is tested by investigating the effects of recent L1 re-exposure on antecedent preferences for Spanish pronominal subjects, using offline judgements and online eye-tracking measures. Participants included a group of native Spanish speakers experiencing L1 attrition (ÔattritersÕ), a second group of attriters exposed exclusively to Spanish before they were tested (Ôre-exposedÕ), and a control group of Spanish monolinguals. The judgement data shows no significant differences between the groups. Moreover, the monolingual and re-exposed groups are not significantly different from each other in the eye-tracking data. The results of this novel manipulation indicate that attrition effects decrease due to L1 re-exposure, and that bilinguals are sensitive to input changes. Taken together, the findings suggest that attrition affects online sensitivity with interface structures rather than causing a permanent change in speakersÕ L1 knowledge representations.

Offline interpretation of subject pronouns by native speakers of Spanish

“…Research on anaphora resolution suggests that native speakers of null subject languages consistently assign the subject antecedent to a null pronoun whereas the overt pronoun is not so strictly assigned to the object antecedent (Alonso-Ovalle et al 2002;Filiaci 2010;Filiaci et al 2014). Contrary to these results, a recent study by Chamorro et al (2016) found that Spanish speakers had a clear preference for the object as the antecedent for the overt pronoun, while their preference for the subject as the antecedent for the null pronoun was less consistent.…”

“…The results are interpreted in the light of the predictions of the PAS and the findings from Chamorro et al (2016) and other relevant studies, with the aim of testing Carminati's proposal further and provide additional evidence about some of the factors which may influence pronoun interpretation in null subject languages.…”

Selectivity in L1 Attrition: Differential Object Marking in Spanish Near-Native Speakers of English

“…These results reveal that Spanish attrited speakers undergo L1 attrition with a syntax-pragmatics structure like pronominal subjects and that attrition effects decrease as a result of L1 exposure. Chamorro et al (2015) concluded that these findings suggest that attrition affects online sensitivity with this type of structure rather than causing a permanent change in speakers' L1 knowledge representations.…”

“…However, this is unlikely, because a recent paper from the same series of experiments as the present study reveals not only that the technique used in these studies is sensitive enough to detect differences between groups, but also the contrast of this syntax-semantics interface structure with a syntax-pragmatics interface structure, Spanish pronominal subjects. Chamorro et al (2015) addressed the 30 same research questions as the present study, carrying out the same offline and eyetracking experiments with the same groups of participants, but testing a syntaxpragmatics interface structure, subject pronouns, instead of the syntax-semantics interface structure tested here. Similarly to the present study, the offline data showed no significant differences between the groups, with all three groups revealing equal sensitivity to the subject pronoun mismatch (i.e.…”

“…If the effects of attrition do not involve the knowledge of the language itself, but rather the cognitive strategies to access and implement this knowledge in real time, one may predict that attrition effects will not be manifested with structures that require the integration of linguistic, rather than contextual, information, because this type of integration involves proceduralized routines of access to grammatical elements. One may also predict that for the structures that do reveal attrition effects, these effects are not irreversible but may be sensitive to the amount and frequency of exposure to the native language (Chamorro 2014;Chamorro et al 2015).…”