Feature reassembly and L1 preemption: Acquiring CLLD in L2 Italian and L2 Romanian

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Second Language Acquisition
• Syntax

Background:

• Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) involves complex feature acquisition and reassembly.
• Understanding L1 transfer effects is crucial for explaining L2 syntactic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the acquisition of CLLD in L2 Italian and L2 Romanian.
• To investigate the roles of L1 transfer, construction frequency, and interface type in CLLD acquisition.
• To test the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis at the syntax-discourse interface.

Main Methods:

• Acceptability judgment task.
• Written elicitation task.
• Comparative analysis of L2 Italian and L2 Romanian learners.

Main Results:

• Near-native English speakers acquired L2 constraints on CLLD.
• Persistent L1 transfer effects were observed in Italian and Romanian L2 learners.
• Feature reassembly for CLLD was more challenging than feature acquisition.

Conclusions:

• L1 transfer effects impede target-like acquisition of CLLD, requiring grammatical expansion and retraction.
• The Feature Reassembly Hypothesis is supported at the syntax-discourse interface.
• L1 preemption difficulties persist regardless of input frequency or feature type.