Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Factors Influencing Interlanguage Transfer

In the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), the role of transfer has been theorized and studied to account for the influence of the native language on an interlanguage. However, stemming from behaviorist mentality, the concept of transfer has become widely associated with the direct transfer of habits and fails to take into consideration other cross-linguistic influences (CLI) that shape or are shaped by the interlanguage, such as avoidance, ‘reverse transfer’ from a learner’s second language (L2) to native language (L1), perception of linguistic distance, and interlanguage transfer. Thus, the reductionist analysis of direct L1 to L2 transfer is no longer sufficient to account for the parallel activation of languages in multilinguals. With this in mind, although SLA has expanded to include other factors involved in crosslinguistic influences and has provided invaluable insights into the cognitive dimensions of language learners, the study of language learning exclusively through first and second language acquisition does not offer an understanding of the full capacity of humans to acquire language(s). As multilingualism is becoming more of a norm than an exception, SLA researchers now consider the ways in which all linguistic systems in a learner’s mind—L1, L2, L3, or so on— may be simultaneously interacting and competing in production. To acknowledge the unique and complex cognitive development of multilinguals, a wave of research has been conducted to extend our theoretical perspective of CLI to include interlanguage transfer, the carryover of a linguistic feature from one interlanguage system to another. This research in third language acquisition (TLA), an offshoot of SLA that concentrates specifically on the acquisition of a subsequent language beyond the second, may enhance our understanding of cross-linguistic influences in particular and acquisition processes in general. According to Sanz (2000), “The need to examine L3 acquisition in bilingual contexts from multiple perspectives is determined by the number of variables involved and their multiple interactions, making L3 acquisition a highly complex phenomenon” (p. 37). As stated above, due to the extensive number of additional variables available to learners at the onset of L3 acquisition and all potential interactions that can occur between them, current research in this area has demonstrated the distinct and contentious nature of this domain of study. Nevertheless, an investigation of some of the research on L3 cross-linguistic influences can potentially reveal the role of transfer 2 in general and the factors that contribute to the transferability of language items between interlanguages (e.g., psychotypology, L2 status, etc.) in L3 acquisition.