Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered

Gupton, Timothy Michael; Sánchez Calderón, Silvia

Publicación:
Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered

dc.contributor.author	Gupton, Timothy Michael
dc.contributor.author	Sánchez Calderón, Silvia
dc.contributor.orcid	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4970-823X
dc.date.accessioned	2024-06-11T09:52:27Z
dc.date.available	2024-06-11T09:52:27Z
dc.date.issued	2021-06-03
dc.description.abstract	We examine the second language (L2) acquisition of variable Spanish word order by first language (L1) speakers of English via the acquisition of unaccusative and transitive predicates in various focus-related contexts. We employ two bimodal linguistic tasks: (1) acceptability judgment task (B-AJT) and (2) appropriateness preference task (B-APT). Both present contextualized prompts similar to previous studies, followed by response options with accompanying audio to control for intonation and pauses. Results suggest a number of key findings: (1) by the high intermediate level, L2ers acquire the relevant syntactic and syntax information structure interface competencies for both predicate types; (2) native speakers and L2 groups exhibit optionality, and only differ in nuanced ways; and (3) advanced learners show signs of acquiring syntactic and syntax–information structure competencies in numerous contexts, but display minor differences regarding optionality with corrective focus, an interface incorporating multiple interfaces (syntax–prosody pragmatics). Unlike the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis (IH), this subtle, non-native-like divergence is characterized by divergent knowledge of optionality similar to that found among native speakers. Attempting to understand more completely the development of native-speaker optionality, we also conduct a corpus study of child-directed Spanish from CHILDES and find that, although syntactic theory explains much of the data, it cannot account for all of the variability in the data. Results suggest that children are exposed to apparent optionality from the earliest stages.	en
dc.description.version	versión original
dc.identifier.citation	Gupton, T., & Sánchez Calderón, S. (2023). Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered. Second Language Research, 39(1), 185-229. https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583211017604
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583211017604
dc.identifier.issn	0267-6583 e-ISSN: 1477-0326
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/22301
dc.journal.issue	1
dc.journal.title	Second Language Research
dc.journal.volume	39
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.center	Facultad de Filología
dc.relation.department	Filologías Extranjeras y sus Lingüísticas
dc.rights	Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es
dc.subject	57 Lingüística
dc.subject.keywords	discourse	en
dc.subject.keywords	English	en
dc.subject.keywords	information structure	en
dc.subject.keywords	Spanish	en
dc.subject.keywords	syntax–focus interface	en
dc.subject.keywords	unaccusativity	en
dc.title	Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered	en
dc.type	artículo	es
dc.type	journal article	en
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	41b89d21-83a4-4494-a274-d9ddebc05b30