Resumen de The initial state of third language acquisition: Chinese–English bilingual learners’ judgments of syntax in semi-artificial languages
This study investigates the starting point of syntax in third language acquisition. While earlier studies have defined the term ‘initial state’ in various ways, this study defines it in its strictest sense and examines how L1 Chinese speakers with proficient L2 English respond to the syntax of two unfamiliar languages during their first encounter with them. The syntactic structure under investigation is the dummy subject, which is absent in Chinese but required in English. The participants in this study evaluated the grammaticality of sentences in two semi-artificial languages, S and J, composed of Swedish and Japanese vocabulary, which share formal similarities with English and Chinese, respectively. Half of the sentences in each language were structured in Chinese syntax, while the other half followed English syntax. The findings indicate that both L1 and L2 were activated and utilised when processing an unknown L3, with the formally similar language appearing more prominent. Furthermore, the results suggest that both lexical and structural similarities could nearly equally activate previously acquired languages to process a new language. Therefore, this study argues that the initial state should be regarded as a relative concept, taking into account both previously acquired languages and the target language.
