Aims and Objectives: This article proposes the “scalpel model,” a new model of third and additional language (L3/Ln) acquisition. The model aims to identify and examine what happens beyond the initial state of acquisition and what factors may influence change from one state of knowledge to another. Methodology: The article briefly examines the currently proposed hypotheses and models and evalua...

We used fMRI to investigate neural activation in reading aloud in bilinguals differing in age of acquisition. Three groups were compared: French-English bilinguals who acquired two languages from birth (simultaneous), French-English bilinguals who learned their L2 after the age of 5 years (sequential), and English-speaking monolinguals. While the bilingual groups contrasted in age of acquisitio...

While much research has examined second language (L2) phonetic acquisition, less first (L1) attrition in terms of the voice onset time (VOT) voiceless stops. The current study L2 acquisition and L1 VOT word-initial stops among late English–Arabic Arabic–English bilinguals order to explore role similarity speech. included 60 participants: 15 monolingual Arabic speakers, English bilinguals. had b...

We present a new feedback strategy implemented in a natural-language-generation-based e-learning system for German as second language (L2). Although the system recognizes a large proportion of the grammar errors in learner-produced written sentences, its automatically generated feedback only addresses errors against rules that are relevant at the learner’s current L2 acquisition stage. This app...

This study investigates ultimate attainment of patterns of segmentation and temporal structuring of events in L2 speakers. The participant group consists of 35 L1 Spanish – L2 Swedish adult bilinguals living in Sweden, with ages of L2 acquisition ranging from 1 to 19 years. Fifteen native speakers of Swedish and 15 native speakers of Spanish were engaged as controls. The participants provided o...

Our study uses event-related potentials (ERP) to investigate two factors in the second language (L2) processing of agreement: the role of number and gender features in the native language (L1), and the impact of individual differences between learners. Previous ERP studies investigating L2 agreement vary as to whether they find native-like processing (e.g., Rossi et al., 2006; Tokowicz and MacW...

This study focuses on the prosodic patterns of noun phrases (NP) in English, Mandarin and L2 English so as to find out the prosodic similarities and differences between English and Mandarin as well as the effects of the prosody of L1 Mandarin on the acquisition of L2 English NP prosody. The results reveal that English NPs usually have one IP for the NPs with pre-modifiers and two IPs for those ...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to evaluate variations in cortical activation in early and late Uygur-Chinese bilinguals from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Methodology: During a semantic judgment task with visual stimulation by a single Chinese or Uygur word, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed. The fMRI data regarding activated cortical areas and volu...

It is well established in the relevant literature that the second language (L2) acquisition of articles is difficult, particularly if the L1 lacks articles (Huebner 1985; Robertson, 2000; Thomas, 1989; Ionin, Ko & Wexler, 2004; Trenkic, 2007). Typical errors include omissions in obligatory contexts; inappropriate substitution of one article for the other (typically, definite for indefinite, see...