Is SLA out of (language) control? Examining the influence of language control on initial stages of second language acquisition

Different from the acquisition of the first language (L1), another linguistic system is usually already present in the learner’s mind when acquiring a second language (L2). This leads to cross-linguistic influence, which L2 learners need to regulate to successfully learn the L2. The process responsible for this task is language control (for a review, see Declerck & Koch, 2023). Due to its pivotal role in bilingual processing, language control has received increasing attention in bilingualism research in recent years. In contrast, its effect on SLA, which entails becoming a bilingual in the first place, remains largely unclear. To address this research gap, we investigate the influence of language control on initial stages of second language acquisition.

Given that vocabulary acquisition is one of the first steps of SLA and since prior language control studies have mainly focused on lexical processing, our first study examined the role of language control in L2 vocabulary acquisition. 65 monolingual English speakers acquired a set of Dutch words during three sessions over one month. Participants completed a picture-word learning task at each session, in which they named pictures in their L1 and new L2. During this task, each word was consistently presented in either a language switch trial (e.g., an L2 trial following and L1 trial) or repetition trial (e.g., an L2 trial following and L2 trial), with switch trials requiring comparatively more language control. A subsequent vocabulary test measured participants’ learning gains. Switch costs (i.e., longer reaction times in switch than repetition trials) were found across all three sessions, indicating the use of language control during the learning task. Crucially, the vocabulary test revealed higher learning gains for vocabulary learned in repetition (i.e., low language control condition) than switch trials (i.e., high language control condition).

While this finding indicates that language control affects initial L2 vocabulary acquisition, other learning domains of SLA may not be influenced in the same way. This might be especially the case as several SLA accounts suggest that L2 lexical and grammatical knowledge may be acquired and stored differently (e.g., Ullman 2001). In our next study, we therefore test a new group of monolingual English speakers in their acquisition of Dutch plural and diminutive rules, using the same learning paradigm. A generalization task assesses participants’ acquisition of the two rules. In line with our previous findings, we expect learning gains to be higher for the rule acquired in language repetition compared to switch trials.

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References

Declerck, M., & Koch, I. (2023). The concept of inhibition in bilingual control. Psychological Review, 130(4), 953-976. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000367

Ullman, M. T. (2001). The declarative/procedural model of lexicon and grammar. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 30(1), 37-69. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005204207369