Syntactic development in early foreign language learning: Effects of L1 transfer, input, and individual factors

• Published in: Applied psycholinguistics Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 1241 - 1267
• Main Authors: Hopp, Holger, Steinlen, Anja, Schelletter, Christina, Piske, Thorsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.09.2019
• Subjects: Adult Basic Education; Adult Students; Age; Bilingualism; Child Development; Children; Children & youth; Comprehension; Early second language learning; Elementary education; English as a second language learning; German as a second language learning; Grade 4; Grammar; Immersion; Individual differences; Language; Learning transfer; Monolingualism; Native language acquisition; Original Article; Phonological awareness; Relative clauses; Syntactic analysis; Syntax; Transfer learning; morphosyntax; transfer; child foreign-language acquisition; individual differences

This study explores parallels and differences in the comprehension of wh-questions and relative clauses between early foreign-language (FL) learners and monolingual children. We test for (a) effects of syntactic first-language (L1) transfer, (b) the impact of input on syntactic development, and (c)...