Crosslinguistic Influence in L3 Acquisition

Bilingual Heritage Speakers in Germany

Eliane Lorenz author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:29th Nov '22

Should be back in stock very soon

Crosslinguistic Influence in L3 Acquisition cover

This book explores crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition, drawing insights from a study of young bilingual secondary school students in Germany to unpack the importance of different variables in the acquisition and use of English as an additional language.

Lorenz draws on data from a learner corpus of written and spoken picture descriptions toward analyzing sources of crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition in bilingual heritage speakers with unbalanced proficiency in heritage versus majority languages as compared with their monolingual German peers. This unique approach allows for a clearer understanding of the extent of influence of access to heritage languages, the impact of being a "balanced" vs "unbalanced" bilingual speaker, and the importance of extra-linguistic variables, such as age, gender, socio-economic status, and type of school. The final two chapters highlight practical considerations for the English language classroom and the implications of the study for future directions for research on third language acquisition.

With its detailed overview of L2 and L3 acquisition and contribution toward ongoing debates on the advantages of being bilingual and multilingual, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in applied linguistics, foreign language acquisition, foreign language teaching, and learner corpus research.

"This volume is an outstanding contribution to the study of cross-linguistic influence in L3 acquisition. The in-depth analysis of tense is a very significant addition to the study of the differences between second and third language learners. The volume will be of enormous interest to anyone interested in the study of second/third language acquisition and multilingualism."

Jasone Cenoz, University of the Basque Country

"This book offers an impressively comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of theoretical and empirical issues in L3 acquisition research. It is an excellent contribution to the field."

Marit Westergaard, UiT The Arctic University of Norway / NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology

"An excellent volume on crosslinguistic influence in the L2 and L3 acquisition of English by several groups of monolingual learners (some from under-researched L1s) and a unique group of unbalanced bilingual heritage speakers. It draws the reader’s attention to both linguistic and extra-linguistic variables to explain the findings. A must-read."

María del Pilar García Mayo, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU)

"This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the dynamically developing field of L3 acquisition. With a focus on bilingual heritage speakers, the original empirical investigation presented therein contributes to the ongoing debate on bilingual advantage and provides relevant implications for foreign language classrooms.”

Magdalena Wrembel, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

ISBN: 9780367681210

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 662g

256 pages