FIRST EXPOSURE STUDIES: AN INTRODUCTION

Vortrag von Jacopo Saturno, Ph.D. (Università di Bergamo)

Montag, 11.12.2017, 12 Uhr c.t.
Dorotheenstr. 65, 5.30

This talk provides an introduction to initial L2 acquisition studies, whose purpose is to collect data on the very beginning of the acquisition process – ideally, right from the very first contact with a completely new target language. The focus of the talk is on the main theoretical questions inspiring the field as well as the methodological solutions adopted to try and answer them.

After an overview of classic studies, we will focus in greater detail on two recent projects devoted to the acquisition of Polish.

VILLA is a large experiment in which 188 participants with five L1s and no experience of the target language took a 14-hour Polish course. The project focusses on input control, which was achieved by integrally recording and transcribing classes. These data were then correlated to learner production, observed in the context of both structured tests and interactional tasks. No grammatical explanations were provided, so that learners had to autonomously identify regularities in the input in order to develop their own L2 grammar.

Next, VILLA NOVA aims to test some of the results obtained in the VILLA project in a realistic dydactic environment, namely the Humboldt university introductory Polish course. In this naturalistic setting, participants may have varying initial skills in the target language, which provides fertile ground for interactional studies. Further, building on the VILLA experiencce, efforts were made to completely avoid written language during both classes and tests.

The talk will conclude with a few suggestions as to future research in terms of both language acquisition and language teaching.

WORD FORMATION IN THE EARLIEST STAGES OF POLISH L2 ACQUISITION 

Vortrag von Jacopo Saturno – Università di Bergamo

Mittwoch, den 13.12.2017, 12 Uhr c.t.
Dorotheenstr. 65, Raum 5.54

This talk discusses the strategies adopted by initial adult learners of L2 Polish when confronted with lexical gaps.

The study is based on the VILLA project, a multi-national, cross-linguistic initiative dedicated to the earlies stages of Polish L2 acquisition under controlled input conditions (Dimroth et al. 2013). 163 speakers with various L1s and no experience of the target language took part in a 14-hour Polish course taught by a professional teacher, whose speech represents the only input available. This was entirely recorded and transcribed, so as to correlate its features with the results of the numerous tests learners took during the course.

Learner production is observed in the context of a test aimed to elicit copular structures. Some of the target words had never been presented in the input, so that learners were effectively required to invent them, while at the same time trying to make them sound as Polish as possible. It can be argued, therefore, that learner strategies should reflect those input features which enjoyed the greatest prominence.

The data show a very marked tendency to use a root-final -k- sound, optionally followed by sound clusters resembling Polish inflectional endings. The study attempts to justify such observation on the basis of the fully controlled VILLA input. Parallels are also outlined between the present data and other studies from various fields of L1 and L2 acquisition.