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Not just algunos, but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish

Not just algunos, but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish
Not just algunos, but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish
This study examines interpretation of scalar implicatures (SI) in the L2 Spanish of native English advanced learners. Spanish is especially interesting since, unlike English, it has two indefinite determiners, unos and algunos, which ostensibly map to English some. However, each does not allow an implicature like English some. The complexity of the Spanish system is predicted to make Spanish particularly challenging. We present data from a Video Acceptability Judgment experiment where the subset–whole set distinction is applied to algunos/unos. The videos contain sets of 4 participants, in which 0, 3 or all 4 engage in an action. Test sentences are presented after the video clips in four target conditions: (a) algunos with 4 out of 4 (4/4) video, (b) algunos with 3 out of 4 (3/4) video, (c) unos with 4/4 video and (d) unos with 3/4 video. Judgments on the 4/4 video conditions, especially the unos condition, indicate whether implicatures are projected or not. If participants are sensitive to the idiosyncratic restrictions on algunos for implicatures, one expects to find a distinction between algunos and unos in the 4/4 condition, and between 4/4 versus 3/4 conditions with algunos. Both participant groups (native speakers and advanced L2ers) perform the experiment similarly. Both groups make the two relevant distinctions to the same degree.
125–145
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Miller, David
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Giancaspro, David
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Iverson, Michael
c7a314ab-981a-4372-b19a-26391408ff16
Rothman, Jason
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Slabakova, Roumyana
1bda11ce-ce3d-4146-8ae3-4a486b6f5bde
de la Fuente, Anahi
Valenzuela, Elena
Martínez-Sanz, C.
Miller, David
970717a8-2ec9-485f-b0dd-835dfd1b55b0
Giancaspro, David
30f58217-5363-4c2f-a441-6903e908b90c
Iverson, Michael
c7a314ab-981a-4372-b19a-26391408ff16
Rothman, Jason
859b1f9a-4bd7-4a4d-8045-5eac2959bfb7
Slabakova, Roumyana
1bda11ce-ce3d-4146-8ae3-4a486b6f5bde
de la Fuente, Anahi
Valenzuela, Elena
Martínez-Sanz, C.

Miller, David, Giancaspro, David, Iverson, Michael, Rothman, Jason and Slabakova, Roumyana (2016) Not just algunos, but indeed unos L2ers can acquire scalar implicatures in L2 Spanish. In, de la Fuente, Anahi, Valenzuela, Elena and Martínez-Sanz, C. (eds.) Language Acquisition Beyond Parameters: Studies in Honour of Juana Liceras. (Studies in Bilingualism, 51) Amsterdam, NL. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 125–145. (doi:10.1075/sibil.51).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

This study examines interpretation of scalar implicatures (SI) in the L2 Spanish of native English advanced learners. Spanish is especially interesting since, unlike English, it has two indefinite determiners, unos and algunos, which ostensibly map to English some. However, each does not allow an implicature like English some. The complexity of the Spanish system is predicted to make Spanish particularly challenging. We present data from a Video Acceptability Judgment experiment where the subset–whole set distinction is applied to algunos/unos. The videos contain sets of 4 participants, in which 0, 3 or all 4 engage in an action. Test sentences are presented after the video clips in four target conditions: (a) algunos with 4 out of 4 (4/4) video, (b) algunos with 3 out of 4 (3/4) video, (c) unos with 4/4 video and (d) unos with 3/4 video. Judgments on the 4/4 video conditions, especially the unos condition, indicate whether implicatures are projected or not. If participants are sensitive to the idiosyncratic restrictions on algunos for implicatures, one expects to find a distinction between algunos and unos in the 4/4 condition, and between 4/4 versus 3/4 conditions with algunos. Both participant groups (native speakers and advanced L2ers) perform the experiment similarly. Both groups make the two relevant distinctions to the same degree.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: October 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 23 December 2016
Additional Information: DOI: 10.1075/sibil.51
Organisations: Modern Languages and Linguistics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 386920
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/386920
PURE UUID: c016e102-c18a-4528-8edb-b98790d4291d
ORCID for Roumyana Slabakova: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5839-460X

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Date deposited: 11 Feb 2016 14:16
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:48

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Contributors

Author: David Miller
Author: David Giancaspro
Author: Michael Iverson
Author: Jason Rothman
Editor: Anahi de la Fuente
Editor: Elena Valenzuela
Editor: C. Martínez-Sanz

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