Abstract
The potential ways in which learning a second or third language can influence other languages in the mind of the (emergent) bilingual is an increasingly important issue given the international importance of foreign language learning. This study explored whether learning French as a foreign language influences knowledge of English morphosyntax in learners of L2 French with L1 English (n=21) and learners of L3 French with L2 English (n=9). Comparing these two groups allowed us to identify whether and to what extent backwards cross linguistic influence (CLI) are different depending on whether French is L2 or L3, and whether English is L1 or L2. Accuracy on tenseaspects of English morphosyntax was measured through two tasks (Grammaticality Judgement and Proofreading). Results indicated no inhibitive influence from L2 French to L1 English, with potential enhancement of explicit knowledge when compared to a control group of English-speaking participants with no French. In contrast, influence leading to inaccuracy was observed from L3 French to L2 English in that the L3 French learners made more errors in past simple and present perfect in the GJT. Results are discussed in the context of better understanding the nature of developing grammatical systems, together with implications for future work.
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Appendices
APPENDIX 1: GJT
Test items in the timed GJT:
Questions 1-3 involve the non-target use of present perfect.
Questions 4-6 involve the target use of present perfect.
Questions 7-9 involve the non-target use of past simple.
Questions 10-12 involve the target use of past simple.
Questions 13-24 are distracters, with an even split of grammatical and ungrammatical sentences.
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Question 1
*Samy has gone to the United Kingdom last September.
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Question 2
*They have written an essay on Pharmacology several days ago.
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Question 3
*The other day my students have given me a present.
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Question 4
Since the beginning of June, I have lived in France.
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Question 5
He has been a fire-fighter for three years.
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Question 6
Chris and I have known each other for ten years.
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Question 7
*Jessica spent so much more since the inflation in June.
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Question 8
*Mark studied Chinese in Taiwan since last summer.
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Question 9
*We never saw him again since Tuesday’s lecture.
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Question 10
Esther was very good in Mathematics when she was young.
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Question 11
Andrew finally found his lost wallet on Thursday.
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Question 12
She came to the United States in 2000.
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Question 13
*Alison like to bake cakes and cookies very much.
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Question 14
*Sharon always want to receive a present from Santa Claus.
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Question 15
*Every day, Felix perform music in the public.
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Question 16
Helen often watches television after dinner at night.
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Question 17
Rosa is a very good singer with professional standards.
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Question 18
Every time Marco plays the piano, the audience feels relaxed.
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Question 19
*He is playing with the cat who is very adorable.
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Question 20
*James is a driver which is very cautious in driving.
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Question 21
*Lisa is liking to eat ice-cream in the winter.
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Question 22
Jacob is a diligent student who works very hard.
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Question 23
Now, Mary is making a delicious meal for us all.
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Question 24
Crystal likes the pen which is her birthday present.
Appendix 2: proofreading task
What a day!
This is certainly the most unforgettable and bizzarre1 day which I ever experienced2. Although it has happened3 several years ago, but4 my memory of that day is still fresh.
It’s5 five o’clock in the morning. I have already6 waken7 up because I had to catch a flight to france8. I made myself some breakfast and had it while listening to some music. Once I have finished9 it, I walked out of my house. After getting on the bus, I found that I had left my purse which10 I put my money at home! The bus driver sit11 there was waiting for my payment. It was so embarrasing12! I quickly got off and ran back home. I grabbed my purse and rushed out again but the lift was under maintanance13. I had to walk down 10 floors of stairs. Finally I reached the bus-stop and got on the bus. Throughout my bus journey, I was very anxious because I doubt14 if I can15 get to the airport in time. I kept blaming myself that I have left16 my purse at home.
When I arrived17 the airport, I called my friend Jimmy who18 I was going on the trip to paris19.
“Hi, Jimmy, where are you? Did you wait20 for a long time?”
“What are you talking about? I’m at home, of course. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning!”
“What? Our flight isn’t21 scheduled for 8 o’clock?”
“I don’t know what are you22 talking about. Today is Thursday23. Our flight is tomorrow but not today. Have you drunk24 too much when you were hanging out with your friends yesterday? Time to wake25!”
My watch show26 the date as 23rd August proved that I was wrong and Jimmy was right. While feeling relieved, I realised that my nervousness on the bus was completely pointless! I felt so stupid!
That day on my way home, I have bought27 a28 organiser to write down every little event in my life. Since then, the organiser which29 I write was30 in my rucksack. I guess I will never make such a careless mistake again!
Errors:
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1:
spelling
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2:
wrong use of past simple
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3:
wrong use of present perfect
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4:
excessive ‘but’
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5:
wrong use of present simple
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6:
wrong use of present perfect
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7:
‘waken’ change to ‘woken’
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8:
capital letter – ‘France’
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9:
wrong use of present perfect
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10:
missing of preposition – ‘within which’ or ‘in which’
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11:
wrong verb form – ‘sit’ change to ‘sitting’
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12:
spelling
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13:
spelling
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14:
wrong use of present simple
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15:
wrong use of present simple
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16*:
collocation – blaming myself + for + v-ing – ‘blaming myself for leaving / having left’
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17:
missing of preposition – ‘arrived at’
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18:
missing of preposition – ‘with whom’
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19:
capital letter – ‘Paris’
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20:
wrong use of past simple
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21:
question Subject-Verb inversion
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22:
Subject-Verb inversion
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23:
capital letter – ‘Thursday’
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24:
wrong use of present perfect
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25:
missing of preposition – ‘wake up’
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26:
wrong verb form – ‘show’ change to ‘showing’
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27:
wrong use of present perfect
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28:
agreement of article – ‘a’ change to ‘an’
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29:
missing of preposition – ‘in which’
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30:
wrong use of past simple
* Error 16 was originally treated as wrong use of present perfect. However, after discussion with the other rater, it was agreed that it would be more appropriate to treat it as a collocation error. In fact, many participants picked up the collocation of ‘blaming somebody for doing something’ and they might have identified the error as one relating to collocation instead of the wrong use of present perfect.
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Fung, K., Murphy, V. Cross linguistic influence in adult L2/L3 learners:. GSTF J Educ 3, 11 (2016). https://doi.org/10.7603/s40742-015-0011-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7603/s40742-015-0011-4