Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10397/75765
Title: | Comprehension of subject and object relative clauses in a trilingual acquisition context | Authors: | Chan, A Chen, S Matthews, S Yip, V |
Issue Date: | 6-Oct-2017 | Source: | Frontiers in psychology, 6 Oct. 2017, v. 8, 1641, p.1-17 | Abstract: | Chinese relative clauses (RCs) have word order properties that are distinctly rare across languages of the world; such properties provide a good testing ground to tease apart predictions regarding the relative complexity of subject and object RCs in acquisition and processing. This study considers these special word order properties in a multilingual acquisition context, examining how Cantonese(L1)-English(L2)-Mandarin(L3) trilingual children process RCs in two Chinese languages differing in exposure conditions. Studying in an English immersion international school, these trilinguals are also under intensive exposure to English. Comparisons of the trilinguals with their monolingual counterparts are made with a focus on the directionality of cross-linguistic influence. The study considers how various factors such as language exposure, structural overlaps in the target languages, typological distance, and language dominance can account for the linguistic abilities and vulnerabilities exhibited by a group of children in a trilingual acquisition context. Twenty-one trilingual 5-to 6-year-olds completed tests of subject-and object-RC comprehension in all three languages. Twenty-four age-matched Cantonese monolinguals and 24 age-matched Mandarin monolinguals served as comparison groups. Despite limited exposure to Mandarin, the trilinguals performed comparable to the monolinguals. Their Cantonese performance uniquely predicts their Mandarin performance, suggesting positive transfer from L1 Cantonese to L3 Mandarin. In Cantonese, however, despite extensive exposure from birth, the trilinguals comprehended object RCs significantly worse than the monolinguals. Error analyses suggested an English-based head-initial analysis, implying negative transfer from L2 English to L1 Cantonese. Overall, we identified a specific case of bi-directional influence between the first and second/ third languages. The trilinguals experience facilitation in processing Mandarin RCs, because parallels and overlaps in both form and function provide a transparent basis for positive transfer from L1 Cantonese to L3 Mandarin. On the other hand, they experience more difficulty in processing object RCs in Cantonese compared to their monolingual peers, because structural overlaps with competing structures from English plus intensive exposure to English lead to negative transfer from L2 English to L1 Cantonese. The findings provide further evidence that head noun assignment in object RCs is especially vulnerable in multilingual Cantonese children when they are under intensive exposure to English. | Keywords: | Child second and third language acquisition Cross-linguistic influence Input conditions Structural overlaps Typological distance Cantonese Mandarin English |
Publisher: | Frontiers Research Foundation | Journal: | Frontiers in psychology | ISSN: | 1664-1078 | EISSN: | 1664-1078 | DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01641 | Rights: | Copyright © 2017 Chan, Chen, Matthews and Yip. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The following publication Chan A, Chen S, Matthews S and Yip V (2017) Comprehension of Subject and Object Relative Clauses in a Trilingual Acquisition Context. Front. Psychol. 8:1641,1-17 is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01641 |
Appears in Collections: | Journal/Magazine Article |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chan_Subject_Object_Clauses.pdf | 1.09 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Page views
156
Last Week
3
3
Last month
Citations as of Apr 28, 2024
Downloads
99
Citations as of Apr 28, 2024
SCOPUSTM
Citations
11
Last Week
0
0
Last month
Citations as of Apr 4, 2024
WEB OF SCIENCETM
Citations
12
Last Week
0
0
Last month
Citations as of May 2, 2024
Google ScholarTM
Check
Altmetric
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.