Crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition: a systematic review

Thesis

Crosslinguistic influence (CLI) denotes the facilitative and/or negative influence from a bilingual’s L1 to their L2 and vice versa (e.g., Sharwood Smith & Kellerman, 1986). Most studies on CLI target simultaneous bilinguals (Serratrice, 2013), and have found that certain variables like language dominance (operationalised as the societal language) affect the presence of CLI in this population (Van Dijk et al., 2021). A less investigated but growing area of CLI research explores the acquisition of a third or further language(s) (L3/Ln) (Puig-Mayenco, et al., 2020). The fact that many children across the globe speak two languages/dialects from birth and/or at an early age (OECD, 2014), in turn making learning an L3 a more prevalent occurrence, highlights the importance of focusing more on CLI in the L3 context. Furthermore, estimates indicate that over 15% of the population are multilingual. Drawing on 27 studies, this systematic review therefore investigates the effect of CLI and learner/language specific variables (such as language proficiency) which may interact with this process, across linguistic domains including phonology and lexis. Furthermore, in focusing on successive/sequential bilinguals (referring to those who have had a gap between learning their L1 and L2), this review intends to clearly target L3 learning, as in simultaneous bilinguals there may be no distinction between an L1 and L2 (instead referred to as 2L1), therefore challenging whether additional languages would in fact be L3s. Evidence of CLI was found in 26 of the 27 studies, albeit to varying degrees, with a variety of linguistic domains and features represented in the research. The data extracted from these studies contained a mixture of results, but CLI was found to be on the whole more facilitative. Major observations from this review include the ongoing challenges researchers face with terminological discrepancies. This work carries importance for both academic and non-academic audiences: from a theoretical perspective, understanding what variables underpin CLI in L3/Ln can develop the research community’s current understanding of the cognitive experiences of multilinguals; from a pedagogical perspective, assessing what we do know about CLI in L3/Ln acquisition through a robust review can inform learning and teaching practices among learners and educators alike. Despite a trend of monolingualism in the UK due to the lingua franca status of English, multilingual individuals are increasingly becoming the norm rather than the exception worldwide, and this should be reflected in current research.

Authors: Lazell, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-jnb2jg6pp
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: multilingualism; crosslinguistic influence; systematic review; L3 acquisition
• Subjects: multilingualism; language transfer (language learning)