The Effect of Linguistic Distance, L2 Status and Age on Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition

JASONE CENOZ

Introduction

The study of cross-linguistic influence in third language (L3) acquisition is potentially more complex than the study of cross-linguistic influence in second language (L2) acquisition because it implicates all the processes associated with second language acquisition as well as unique and potentially more complex relationships that can take place among the languages known or being acquired by the learner. The processes used in third language acquisition may be very similar to those used by L2 learners but, as Clyne points out 'the additional language complicates the operations of the processes' (Clyne, 1997: 113). The study of cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition can contribute to the analysis of these operations by examining the conditions in which speakers transfer terms from the other languages they know. In fact, this specific area of research is relevant not only for L3 acquisition, because the analysis of the processes involved in L3 production can be the basis for the study of bilingual and monolingual production (see also Hammarberg, this volume).

The conditions in which cross-linguistic influence takes place are determined by several factors that can potentially predict the relative weight of cross-linguistic influence in the speakers' production and the source language of the elements that are transferred. Among these factors linguistic typology has proved to be influential in the choice of the source language. Speakers borrow more terms from the language that is typologically closer to the target language, or using Kellerman's (1983) concept of psychotypology, the language that is perceived as typologically closer. The effect of psychotypology has been confirmed in several studies (see Bild & Swain, 1989; Möhle, 1989; Singleton, 1987). For example, learners of French and English who are native speakers of a non-IndoEuropean language tend to transfer vocabulary and structures from other Indo-European languages they know rather than from their first language (Ahukanna et al., 1981; Bartelt, 1989; Ringbom, 1987; Singh & Carroll, 1979).

Cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition has been related to the level of proficiency in the target language, and less proficient learners have been reported to transfer more elements from their first language than learners who present higher levels of proficiency (Ringbom, 1987; Möhle, 1989; Poulisse, 1990). In the case of third language acquisition it is important to consider proficiency not only in the target language but also in the other two languages known by the speaker. This fact adds complexity to the study, taking into account that multicompetence is not the sum of monolingual competences (Cook, 1992; Grosjean, 1992; Cenoz & Genesee, 1998; Herdina & Jessner, 2000).

Other factors that can determine the presence of cross-linguistic influence are related to the specific context in which communication takes place, including the interlocutors, the setting and the topic of the conversation. Grosjean (1998) considers that these factors determine whether the speaker is in a bilingual or a monolingual mode. The influence of these contextual factors that determine the speaker's mode has been confirmed in some L3 studies. For example, Dewaele (this volume) found that the level of formality affects the total number of terms transferred from the L2 in L3 production. Hammarberg (this volume) also attributes the use of English for editing functions to the specific context of the interaction because Sarah, a learner of Swedish, knew that her interlocutor was proficient in English and she frequently used English with him in other situations.

Another factor that can predict cross-linguistic influence is the so called 'foreign language effect' (Meisel, 1983) of L2 status (Hammarberg, this volume). Several studies have reported that learners tend to use the L2 or languages other than the L1 as the source language of cross-linguistic influence (Clyne, 1997; Williams & Hammarberg, 1997, 1998; De Angelis & Selinker, this volume).

Cross-linguistic influence could also be related to age. Even though there is a large number of research studies on the highly controversial 'age factor' in second language acquisition (Harley, 1986; Singleton, 1989; Singleton & Lengyel, 1995), research on the relationship between age and cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition has received very limited attention (see Cenoz, 2000). In the case of young learners, age is associated with cognitive and metalinguistic development, and older children have been reported to advance more quickly in the first stages of second language acquisition. Cognitive and metalinguistic development could also be related to cross-linguistic influence, and particularly, to psychotypology, because older children can have a more accurate perception of linguistic distance that could influence the source language they use when transferring terms from one of the languages they know.

Another factor that can potentially affect cross-linguistic influence is 'recency' (see Hammarberg, this volume). It could be hypothesised that learners are more likely to borrow from a language they actively use than from other languages they may know but do not use. Hammarberg's results (this volume) seem to confirm the influence of recency because the learner uses the most recently acquired language, German, as a base language, although this use of German could also be due to the subject's higher proficiency in German or to psychotypology.

The study of cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition is complex because of the number of potential factors that are associated with it and their possible interactions, and also because third language acquisition presents more diversity than second language...