Hostname: page-component-6b989bf9dc-g5k2d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-14T19:00:25.081Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

INCIDENTAL EXPOSURE AND L3 LEARNING OF MORPHOSYNTAX

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2014

Sarah Grey ,
John N. Williams  and
Patrick Rebuschat
Sarah Grey*
Affiliation:
Georgetown University
John N. Williams
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Patrick Rebuschat
Affiliation:
Lancaster University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah Grey, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Psychology, 140 Bruce V. Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: seg24@psu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Evidence of learning following incidental exposure has been found for aspects of nonnative syntax in adults (Rebuschat & Williams, 2006, 2012; Williams & Kuribara, 2008). However, little research has tested delayed effects of learning under an incidental condition or moved beyond word order. This study investigated learning of third language (L3) morphosyntax (word order and case marking) under an incidental exposure condition. Participants were second language Spanish learners exposed auditorily to a semiartificial language, Japlish, during a semantic plausibility judgment task. Performance following exposure to L3 Japlish was assessed with acceptability judgment and picture-matching tasks that were administered immediately after exposure and 2 weeks later. Results on immediate tests showed a significant learning effect on acceptability judgment but none for picture matching. At delayed testing, results showed maintenance of the learning effect on acceptability judgment and significantly improved performance on picture matching. Results additionally showed that many of the learners arrived at the correct Japlish word-order rule; fewer did so for case marking. Follow-up analyses indicated that this rule knowledge, as measured by debriefing information, was important for performance on both assessment tasks, particularly at delayed testing. The results suggest that learning of L3 structures can take place following incidental exposure, that such learning is durable and undergoes improvement, and that development of reportable rule knowledge may also play an important role.

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 611 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bowden, H. W., Sanz, C., & Stafford, C. A. (2005). Individual differences: Age, sex, working memory, and prior knowledge. In Sanz, C. (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: Methods, theory, and practice (pp. 105–140). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Cenoz, J. (2013). The influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition: Focus on multilingualism. Language Teaching, 46, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J., & Valencia, J. (1994). Additive trilingualism: Evidence from Basque Country. Applied Psycholinguistics, 15, 197–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clay, F., Bowers, J. S., Davis, C. J., & Hanley, D. A. (2007). Teaching adults new words: The role of practice and consolidation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 970–976.Google ScholarPubMed
Cohen, A. D., Oxford, R. L., & Chi, J. C. (2008). Learning styles survey: Assessing your own learning styles [PDF document survey]. Unpublished instrument. Retrieved fromhttp://pep.psd267.org/pluginfile.php/14423/mod_resource/content/1/LearningStylesSurvey.pdfGoogle Scholar
Costa, P. T. J., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Davis, M. H., Di Betta, A. M., Macdonald, M. J. E., & Gaskell, M. G. (2008). Learning and consolidation of novel spoken words. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, 803–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, G. (2007). Third or additional language acquisition. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeKeyser, R. M. (1996). Exploring automatization processes. TESOL Quarterly, 30, 349–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R. M. (1997). Beyond explicit rule learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 195–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R. M. (2005). What makes learning second-language grammar difficult? A review of issues. Language Learning, 55, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M. (2010). Multilingualism and affordances: Variance in self-perceived communicative competence and communicative anxiety in French L1, L2, L3 and L4. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 48, 105–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diekelmann, S., Wilhelm, I., & Born, J. (2009). The whats and whens of sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 13, 309–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dienes, Z., & Scott, R. (2005). Measuring unconscious knowledge: Distinguishing structural knowledge and judgment knowledge. Psychological Research, 69, 338–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dillon, A. M. (2009). Metalinguistic awareness and evidence of cross-linguistic influence among bilingual learners in Irish primary schools. Language Awareness, 18, 182–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. New York: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Doughty, C. J., & Williams, J. (Eds.). (1998). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2005). Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 141–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2010). Does explicit grammar instruction work? NINJAL Project Review, 1(2), 3–22.Google Scholar
Ellis, R., Loewen, S., Elder, C., Erlam, R., Philp, J., & Reinders, H. (2009). Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language learning, testing, and teaching. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Ellis, R., Loewen, S., & Erlam, R. (2006). Implicit and explicit corrective feedback and the acquisition of L2 grammar. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 339–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faretta-Stutenberg, M., & Morgan-Short, K. (2011). Learning without awareness reconsidered: A replication of Williams (2005). In Granena, G., Koeth, J., Lee-Ellis, S., Lukyanchenko, A., Prieto Botana, G., & Rhoades, E. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 2010 Second Language Research Forum: Reconsidering SLA research, dimensions, and directions (pp. 18–28). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Gabrieli, J. D. E., Cohen, N. J., & Corkin, S. (1988). The impaired learning of semantic knowledge following medial temporal lobe resection. Brain and Cognition, 7, 157–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gomez, R. (2007). Statistical learning in infant language development. In Gareth Gaskell, M. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 601–616). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grey, S., Williams, J. N., & Rebuschat, P. (2013). The effects of individual differences on learning of L3 morphosyntax in an incidental context. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Georgetown University, Washington, DC; Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Hama, M., & Leow, R. P. (2010). Learning without awareness revisited: Extending Williams (2005). Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 465–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammarberg, B. (2010). The languages of the multilingual: Some conceptual and terminological issues. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 48, 91–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulstijn, J. H., & De Graaff, R. (1994). Under what conditions does explicit knowledge of a second language facilitate the acquisition of implicit knowledge? A research proposal. AILA Review, 11, 97–112.Google Scholar
Jessner, U. (2008). Teaching third languages: Findings, trends, and challenges. Language Teaching, 41, 15–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, S. B., DeYoung, C. G., Gray, J. R., Jiménez, L., Brown, J., & Mackintosh, N. (2010). Implicit learning as an ability. Cognition, 116, 321–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kemp, C. (2007). Strategic processing in grammar learning: Do multilinguals use more strategies? International Journal of Multilingualism, 4, 241–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keshavarz, M. H., & Astaneh, H. (2004). The impact of bilinguality on the learning of English vocabulary as a foreign language. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7, 297–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, E. (1995). Second versus third language acquisition: Is there a difference? Language Learning, 45, 419–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lado, B. (2008). The role of bilingualism, type of feedback, and cognitive capacity in the acquisition of non-primary languages: A computer-based study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgetown University, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Leow, R. P., & Bowles, M. A. (2005). Attention and awareness in SLA. In Sanz, C. (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: Methods, theory, and practice (pp. 179–203). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Leung, J. H. C., & Williams, J. N. (2011). The implicit learning of mappings between forms and contextually derived meanings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33, 33–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A. (1999). Input, interaction, and second language development: An empirical study of question formation in ESL. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 557–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacMillan, N. A., & Creelman, C. D. (2005). Detection theory: A user’s guide (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. J. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A five-factor theory perspective (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merkx, M., Rastle, K., & Davis, M. (2011). The acquisition of morphological knowledge investigated through artificial language learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan-Short, K., & Bowden, H. W. (2006). Processing instruction and meaningful output-based instruction: Effects on second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 31–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Finger, I., Grey, S., & Ullman, M. T. (2012). Second language processing shows increased native-like neural responses after months of no exposure. PLoS ONE, 7(3), e32974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan-Short, K., Sanz, C., Steinhauer, K., & Ullman, M. T. (2010). Second language acquisition of gender agreement in explicit and implicit training conditions: An event-related potential study. Language Learning, 60, 154–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan-Short, K., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C., & Ullman, M. T. (2012). Explicit and implicit second language training differentially affect the achievement of native-like brain activation patterns. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24, 933–947.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nation, R., & McLaughlin, B. (1986). Novices and experts: An information processing approach to the “Good Language Learner” problem. Applied Psycholinguistics, 7, 41–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nayak, N., Hansen, N., Krueger, N., & McLaughlin, B. (1990). Language-learning strategies in monolingual and multilingual adults. Language Learning, 40, 221–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50, 417–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peyer, E., Kayser, I., & Berthele, R. (2010). The multilingual reader: Advantages in understanding and decoding German sentence structure when reading German L3. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7, 225–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reber, A. R. (1993). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge: An essay on the cognitive unconscious (Vol. 19). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P. (2013). Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge in second language research: A review. Language Learning, 63, 595–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rebuschat, P., & Williams, J. N. (2006). Dissociating implicit and explicit learning of syntactic rules. In Sun, R. (Ed.), 28th annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society in cooperation with the 5th International Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci/ICCS 2006) (p. 2594). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P., & Williams, J. N. (2012). Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 33, 829–856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (1995a). Aptitude, awareness and the fundamental similarity of implicit and explicit second language learning. In Schmidt, R. (Ed.), Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (pp. 303–358). Mānoa, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (1995b). Attention, memory, and the “noticing” hypothesis. Language Learning, 45, 283–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (1996). Consciousness, rules, and instructed second language acquisition. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (1997a). Generalizability and automaticity of second language learning under implicit, incidental, enhanced, and instructed conditions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 223–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (1997b). Individual differences and the fundamental similarity of implicit and explicit adult second language learning. Language Learning, 47, 45–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (2002). Learning conditions, aptitude complexes, and SLA. In Robinson, P. (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 113–133). Philadelphia, PA: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (2005a). Aptitude and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 25, 45–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (2005b). Cognitive abilities, chunk-strength, and frequency effects in implicit artificial grammar and incidental L2 leaning: Replications of Reber, Walkenfeld, and Hernstadt (1991) and Knowlton and Squire (1996) and their relevance for SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 235–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P., & Gilabert, R. (2007). Task complexity, the Cognition Hypothesis and second language learning and performance. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 45, 161–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual education enhances third language acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 23–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanz, C. (2005). Adult SLA: The interaction between external and internal factors. In Sanz, C. (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: Methods, theory, and practice (pp. 3–20). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Sanz, C., & Grey, S. (in press). Effects of conditions on L2 development: Beyond accuracy. In Rebuschat, P. (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Sanz, C., & Morgan-Short, K. (2004). Positive evidence versus explicit rule presentation and explicit negative feedback: A computer-assisted study. Language Learning, 54, 35–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanz, C., & Morgan-Short, K. (2005). Explicitness in pedagogical interventions: Input, practice, and feedback. In Sanz, C. (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: Methods, theory, and practice (pp. 234–263). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. W. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 112, 17–46.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. (1992). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 206–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, R. (1995). Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (Vol. 9). Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. W. (2001). Attention. In Robinson, P. (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 3–32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spada, N., & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60, 263–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stafford, C. A., Bowden, H. W., & Sanz, C. (2012). Optimizing language instruction: Matters of explicitness, practice, and cue learning. Language Learning, 62, 741–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stafford, C. A., Sanz, C., & Bowden, H. W. (2010). An experimental study of early L3 development: Age, bilingualism and classroom exposure. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7, 162–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanislaw, H., & Todorov, H. (1999). Calculation of signal detection theory measures. Behavioral Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 137–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanovich, K. E. (2009). Distinguishing the reflexive, algorithmic, and autonomous mind: Is it time for a tri-process theory? In Evans, J. S. B. T. & Frankish, K. (Eds.), In two minds: Dual processes and beyond (pp. 55–88). Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SuperLab (Version 4.0) [Computer software]. San Pedro, CA: Cedrus Corporation.Google Scholar
Tagarelli, K. M., Borges Mota, M., & Rebuschat, P. (2011). The role of working memory in implicit and explicit language learning. In Carlson, L., Holscher, C., & Shipley, T. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2061–2066). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.Google Scholar
Takashima, A., Peterson, K. M., Rutters, F., Tendolkar, I., Jensen, O., Zwarts, M. J., ... Fernandez, G. (2006). Declarative memory consolidation in humans: A prospective functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103, 756–761.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
VanPatten, B. (2002). Processing instruction: An update. Language Learning, 52, 755–803.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. P. (2005). A refined model of sleep and the time course of memory formation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 51–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickens, T. (2002). Elementary signal detection theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, J. N. (2005). Learning without awareness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 269–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. N. (2009). Implicit learning in second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia, T. K. (Eds.), The new handbook of second language acquisition (2nd ed., pp. 319–353). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.Google Scholar
Williams, J. N., & Kuribara, C. (2008). Comparing a nativist and emergentist approach to the initial stage of SLA: An investigation of Japanese scrambling. Lingua, 118, 522–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zobl, H. (1993). Prior linguistic knowledge and the conservation of the learning procedure: Grammaticality judgments of unilingual and multilingual learners. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar