Stephen Fafulas

Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain

Abstract The present study connects research on the L2 acquisition of variable structures to the ever-growing body of research on the role of study abroad in the language learning process. The data come from a group of 46 English-speaking learners of Spanish who participated in immersion programs in two distinct locations, Valencia, Spain and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Simultaneously, we tested a group of native speakers from each region to create an appropriate target model for each learner group. Learners completed a written contextualized questionnaire at the beginning and end of their seven-week stay abroad. Our instrument examines three variable grammatical structures: (1) the copulas ser and estar in pre-adjectival contexts, (2) the preterit and the present perfect in past-time contexts, and (3) the simple present and present progressive in present-time contexts. Findings indicate an overall development of sociolinguistic competence abroad, but to a differing extent depending upon the variable structure analyzed.

Progressive constructions in native-speaker and adult-acquired Spanish

Abstract This research documents the acquisition of a range of progressive constructions and their associated predictors of use by English-speaking learners of Spanish in the United States. The few existing studies on acquisition of the Spanish progressive by adult second language learners analyze only the estar ‘be located’ + V-ndo form and little is known about the development of other progressive constructions (e.g., andar ‘go around’ + V-ndo) in interlanguage grammars. At the same time, research on the use and distribution of present progressive constructions by adult native-speakers of Spanish is limited. In order to address these gaps in the literature, the current study provides empirical evidence of native-speaker use of a range of progressive constructions and documents the emergence of these forms in adult-acquired Spanish. Results of the current study indicate that progressive constructions vary by dialect and language type, thus presenting an area of difficulty for learners of Spanish.

Nasometric Comparison Between Spanish–English Bilingual and English Monolingual Children

Objective: It is well established in the literature that English diagnostic tests should not be directly applied to speakers whose primary language is Spanish. Normative nasalance data across word and sentence-level stimuli among Spanish–English bilingual children living in the United States have not been provided. The present study aims to (1) compare differences in nasalance between typically developing Spanish–English bilingual children and English-speaking monolingual children and (2) determine whether within-speaker nasalance differences exist in Spanish–English bilingual children when presented with English and Spanish speech stimuli. Design: Thirty-four typically developing children including 17 monolingual English speakers and 17 Spanish–English bilingual speakers with normal velopharyngeal anatomy between 5 and 7 years of age participated in the study. Speakers were recorded using a nasometer producing sets of stimulus items at the word and sentence level in English (English monolinguals) and in both Spanish and English for bilingual children. Results: Results indicated no statistically significant difference between nasalance values across the different stimuli between monolingual and bilingual participants. However, within-subject effects showed statistical significance between English and Spanish word stimuli among the bilingual group. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the importance of using language-specific diagnostic materials for nasalance testing, which would be of importance in the treatment of individuals with cleft palate.

Same or different: Narrative retells in bilingual Latino kindergarten children

ABSTRACT The present study examines the association of micro- and macrostructural components in narrative retells within and across languages in Spanish-English bilingual Latino kindergarten children. Using a within-subject research design, fourteen Spanish-English speaking Latino kindergarten children were individually read a scripted picture book, after which narrative retells were elicited separately in each language using the pictures of the book as an aid. Cross-sectional data of the children’s retell transcriptions were coded and analyzed for macrostructure using the narrative scoring scheme and for microstructure by computing the mean length of utterance in words, the number of different words, and the subordination index. Results of the study suggest that elements of macrostructure retells are associated across languages. Microstructure components do not seem to be related across languages but are strongly associated within the same language. Performance in microstructural measures in each language was observed to vary across languages, suggesting that children in the sample acquired the lexical and grammar skills associated with microstructure independently in each of their two languages. Findings from this study have clinical and educational implications for the assessment and instruction of Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten children.

Prosodic timing and language contact: Spanish and Yagua in Amazonian Peru

Abstract This study examines measures of prosodic timing (i. e., segment-to-segment durational variability) in Yagua and Spanish spoken in Amazonian Peru. We performed an acoustic analysis of consonantal and vocalic durations from sociolinguistic interviews in Spanish (for Yagua-Spanish bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals) and from oral narratives in Yagua (for Yagua-Spanish bilinguals). Subsequently, we applied variability metrics to the speech of each group to compare their respective timing values. Our results show that, first, Yagua displays more segment-to-segment durational variability than monolingual Spanish. Second, L1-Yagua/L2-Spanish speakers show primarily Yagua-like timing values in Spanish, whereas Yagua-Spanish simultaneous bilinguals show primarily Spanish-like values in Spanish. These results suggest that ethnic Yagua communities are converging toward Spanish-like patterns of prosodic timing. This research contributes to the Spanish contact and prosodic timing literature by offering bilingual and monolingual data from one of the world’s most complex and typologically diverse geolinguistic areas.