ENTRE NOS #2DSPS/Fall 16

  1. Falcon D. Restrepo-Ramos Presents on “Subject Expression Variation in Spanish L2 Learners.”

One of the key questions posed in the bilingualism field involves how learners develop their second language grammar across different stages of their acquisition. Spanish, as a language with no obligatory overt subject expression (i.e. I play soccer vs (yo) juegofútbol) presents a case for English learners acquiring the variable use of null and overt pronouns, particularly in naturally-produced language. As a result we focus on a variable grammatical structure in Spanish, subject pronouns like yo(I), ella (she), etc., and we compare the rates of usage across different levels of proficiency in the learners' compositions.

In this paper, we focus on how English learners of Spanish at the college level use subject pronouns in theirwritten compositions across different levels of proficiency. The initial analysis with all the groups suggested that as proficiency increased, the use of overt subjects decreased and the use of null subjects increased. Differences in the variables returned as significant, their ranking, and their constraint ranking are interpreted as indicative of differences in the grammars across proficiency levels.In sum, this developmental path suggests that subject expression is influenced by the learners’ L1 patterns of English to a different degree according to the level of proficiency.

  1. Nofiya Denbaum presents on“Gender assignment of English nouns in Spanish-English Code-switching.”

Spanish-English bilinguals in the US frequently switch between a Spanish determiner and an English noun (Pfaff 1979, Poplack 1980). The present study seeks to examine gender assignment across different tasks in Spanish heritage speakers in the US. Previous research using different methodologies to examine gender assignment in mixed NPs have reported a gender asymmetry where nouns that are masculine in the Spanish equivalent (analogical criterion) never appear with a feminine determiner while feminine Spanish equivalents are frequently used with a masculine determiner. Given the scarcity of tokens in previous research, it has not been possible to examine other factors, such as the role of gender morphological transparency of the Spanish equivalent. It is worth examining if bilinguals are sensitive to the difference between a transparently marked feminine Spanish equivalent as in la/el table (mesa) vs. la/el wall (pared), an issue that we examine here.

This study consisted of a language background questionnaire, a Spanish proficiency test, and three gender agreement tasks. Participants were tested on two separate sessions: a Spanish-only session and a CS session. In each of the sessions, participants read a story, completed sentences based on the story eliciting gendered determiners and specific nouns, a story retelling task, and an oral gender selection test. The nouns were manipulated for gender (18 masculine and 18 feminine nouns) as well as morphological transparency of the equivalent. The data was coded for gender of the determiner, gender of the Spanish equivalent, transparency of the equivalent, task type, and session (Spanish only vs. CS). Preliminary results further confirmed the gender asymmetry reported in the previous literature, in that participants rarely produced a feminine determiner with a masculine equivalent.

  1. Christopher Dean, Ana de Prada Pérez, present on“Subject-Verb Inversion in Relative Clauses: Evidence from L2 learners and Heritage Speakers”

Spanish is typically more flexible than English in terms of word order; namely, Spanish allows for either subject-verb (SV) order or verb-subject (VS), whereas English generally follows a strict SV order. In order to observe how this manifests in bilinguals, 23 learners (N male = 7), 20 heritage speakers (N male = 7), and 9 native speakers (N male = 6) took part in an online survey via Qualtrics. This survey consisted of two production tasks, and one Acceptability Judgment Task (AJT). Variables under investigation consisted of clause type (relative, main, wh-question) and verb type (unaccusative, unergative, transitive). Data from production tasks were analyzed via Goldvarb. Results from production tasks indicate a preference for inversion in relative clauses when compared to main clauses across all groups, regardless of proficiency or speaker type. Likewise, speakers of advanced proficiency appear to use verb type in their selection of inversion. That is, advanced speakers seem to prefer VS order with unaccusative verbs when compared to unergatives and transitives. Data from AJT was analyzed in SPSS. Results indicate that overall speakers rate VS order in main clauses lower than SV order and rate SV order lower in wh-questions lower than VS order. In terms of relative clauses, speakers appear to accept either SV or VS order, except low-proficiency learners, who may have yet to acquire VS order in Spanish. This study contributes to the overall understanding of inversion in the Spanish of L2 speakers and English-dominant heritage speakers of Spanish.