Resumen de Are we under control?: acquisition of control structures in L2 English and Spanish
In this study we aim to investígate the acquisition of English and Spanish control structures by adult L2 leamers of English and Spanish, that is, complex structures which typically show a relation of referential dependence between an unexpressed subject (the controlled element) of the embedded clause and an expressed or unexpressed constituent (the controller) of the matrix clause (Bresnan 1982, Farkas 1988, Sag and Pollard 1991). We will be focusing on the effect of the interaction between syntactic and semantic factors, directionality (that is, effect of the L1 on L2 acquisition) and on L2 acquisition of control structures compared to L1 acquisition of control structures. Firstly, we will briefly describe the different types of control structures in English and Spanish and determine the similarities and differences from a typological point of view. In order to identify the syntactic factors involved in the acquisition of control structures, we will summarize Homstein’s (1999) and Manzini and Roussou’s (2001) analyses of control structures within the Minimalist framework. Secondly, we will formúlate our hypotheses of L2 acquisition of English and Spanish control structures based on the learnability problem in L2 acquisition of control compared to L1 acquisition and the development of control in L1 child leamers. Then we will present our experimental study on the acquisition of control structures by adult L2 leamers of English and Spanish. We will contrast different control structures according to the type of controlled clause or element (complement vs. adjunct control structures) and to the type of controller (subject vs. object). Our fmdings will show that some of these constructions can be more problematic than others, typically reflecting typological differences (e.g. control structures are preferred in English as opposed to Spanish), and that the conditioning of semantic and pragmatic factors is different for L2 learners compared to L1 leamers. In addition, they will lend support to the view of many semanticians that syntactic analyses alone cannot account satisfactorily for all control phenomena, including even the more common constructions.
