While many second language (L2) acquisition studies analyze the effects that the first language (L1) has on L2 development, less common are studies that examine the converse situation: does acquisition of an L2 impact the L1? This study examines the effects of L2 acquisition on L1 use by looking at the L1 phonological productions of advanced L2 learners vis-à-vis the production of monolingual s...

First language (L1) attrition is a socio-linguistic circumstance where second language (L2) learning coincides with changes in exposure and use of the native-L1. Attriters often report experiencing a decline in automaticity or proficiency in their L1 after a prolonged period in the L2 environment, while their L2 proficiency continues to strengthen. Investigating the neurocognitive correlates of...

It has been widely observed that in the L2 acquisition of aspect, progressive/imperfective marking is acquired earlier with activity verbs than with achievement verbs (the Aspect Hypothesis; Andersen & Shirai, 1994). This pattern has been seen repeatedly in Japanese -te i(e.g., Shirai & Kurono, 1998), and in -ko issand -a issin L2 Korean (e.g., Lee & Kim, 2007). However, Ishida (2004) found her...

This study set out to investigate the distribution of the syntactic properties associatedwith the prodrop parameter by Persian-speaking L2 learners of English in an attemptto examine the (un)attainability of native-like knowledge and (in)accessibility of UGin adult SLA. To do so, 92 participants were assigned into different levels of L2knowledge based on their performances on the Oxford Placeme...

it is axiomatic that l2 teaching and learning is a process that requires dynamic involvement of l2 learners in the acquisition of knowledge and skills. l2 learners need to be assisted in setting individual learning goals. they should also be given the exposure to and guidance in effective language learning strategies (llss) in order to build a high level of confidence in the learning process. t...

Structure building in language acquisition involves the adding of successive nodes in a hierarchical structure; its application is seen in the realm of syntax for both L1 (e.g. Clahsen, Penke & Parodi, 1993; Vainikka, 1993) and L2 acquisition (e.g. Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 1994, 1996), and to some extent within phonology as well (Brown, 1997). Although researchers in morphological theory argu...

In this paper, I will report on an experimental study investigating the Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001, to appear) and its L2 acquisition. It has been noticed that English and Italian mass or bare plural nouns (bare nouns, BNs) have identical syntactic form and distribution, but differ in available interpretations, the Italian meaning being a subset of the En...

As the neural substrates of second language (L2) acquisition are largely unknown, they may or may not be similar to those of first language (L1) representation. We used functional imaging to examine whether training in the conjugation of English verbs from present to past tense alters brain activations in 13-year-old twins. A novel experimental design contrasted past tense verb identification a...