1. Crosslinguistic Influence &
TLA
Nunez, 2013 (Dissertation, Ch. 2)

2. Background
 crosslinguistic influence (often referred to
as ‘transfer’) has been an important factor
to consider in the study of foreign
language acquisition in general
 In foreign language acquisition, the
learner starts off with at least one fully
acquired linguistic system.

3. CLI or Transfer?
 Crosslinguistic influence is intended as a
more comprehensive term as it considers
the interaction between all existing
linguistic system(s) during the process of
third (or subsequent) language acquisition
rather than assuming the L1 as the only
potential source of transfer.

4. CLI or Transfer?
 CLI studies have shown that an existing
second language, even if not acquired
completely, can interfere in the
performance of the L3.

5. Some terminology
 Transfer: the L1 influence on the TL.
 Interlanguage transfer (lexical or
morphological): the interaction of a non-
primary language with a third or subsequent
one.
 Crosslinguistic influence: all existing linguistic
systems play an equally important role in the
acquisition process of a TL.

6. Transfer in SLA
 only the primary language plays a role in
the acquisition process of a foreign one.

7. Transfer in TLA
 Considers all of the previously known languages to play
an equally important role when it comes to possible
interactions between the target language and the
existing one(s).
 The presence of more linguistic systems in the mind of
an L3 learner will not only increase the number of
potential interactions that can take place, but also alter
the course of these interactions.

8. Why study CLI in TLA?
 It motivates a more inclusive theory of
transfer as it carefully considers all
existing systems in the learner’s mind and
 It imposes a re-evaluation of the already
existing theories and the relevance of
their claims.

9. Why does transfer occur?
Possible explanation
 learning is facilitated if the learner is able to
relate a new item or task to existing previous
knowledge.
 learner will constantly seek to facilitate the
language-learning task by making use of
previously acquired linguistic knowledge

10. Factors that determine CLI
 What are the factors that trigger one
language to be activated over another
when it comes to learning a foreign
language?

11. Factors that determine CLI
 Typology
 The L2
 Proficiency Level

12. The Role of Typology
 Considered to be one of the most
influential factors when it comes to
transfer.
 It is intuitive to assume that when it
comes to CLI, speakers will borrow more
from a language that is typologically
closer to the target language.

13. Notes on Typology
 Language relatedness: proximity/distance based on how
languages are genetically related.
 Languages from different ‘families’ sharing one particular
structure.
 Lerner’s perception of the proximity between languages
he/she knows (psychotypology)

14. The role of the L2
 Initially Meisel (1982): The Foreign Language Effect
 Recently Hammarberg (2001): The L2 Status Factor

15. The role of the L2
 learners tend to use the L2 (or languages
other than the L1) as the source of cross-
linguistic influence

16. The L2 Factor: for example
 Studies on non-Europeans who acquire
their second European language support
this idea: Hindi and Chinese speakers with
knowledge of English who acquire
German as their third language will
transfer mainly from their L2 English onto
their L3 (Chandrasekhar, 1978; Vogel,
1992).

17. The L2 Factor: some explanations
 Deliberately avoided using elements from
her L1 in fear of “sounding ridiculous”.
Williams and Hammarberg (2009)
 Two psycholinguistic constraints:
perception of correctness and association
of foreignness.

18. The L2 Factor: some explanations
 “Perception of correctness predicts that
multilinguals resist incorporating L1
information into the target language as L1
information is perceived to be incorrect from
the start […]. Association of foreigness
refers to the cognitive association that
learners establish between non-native
languages, which are assigned the common
status of ‘foreign languages’”. (De Angelis
2007: 29)

19. Proficiency Level
 In TLA proficiency must be considered,
not only in the target language, but also in
the other non-native language(s) known
by the speaker.

20. Proficiency Level
Logical assumption:
 high proficiency in a background language
would make this language more likely to play
a role in the acquisition of a new one.
However,
 low proficiency in a background language is
also a factor to be considered in CLI (De
Angelis, 2005).

21. Other Factors
 Age: in TLA the main claim is that older children
have a more accurate perception of linguistic
distance that could influence the source
language they use when transferring.
 Recency: learners are more likely to borrow
from a language that they actively use rather
than from other languages that they know but
do not often use.