Native language effects in learning second-language grammatical gender: A training study
Publication year
2010Source
Acta Psychologica, 135, 2, (2010), pp. 150-158ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
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Organization
SW OZ DCC CO
Journal title
Acta Psychologica
Volume
vol. 135
Issue
iss. 2
Page start
p. 150
Page end
p. 158
Subject
DI-BCB_DCC_Theme 1: Language and Communication; PsycholinguisticsAbstract
We investigated cross-language influences in the representation and acquisition of Dutch word gender by native speakers of German. Participants named pictures in Dutch, using gender-marked noun phrases, and were trained on this task using feedback. Nouns differed in gender compatibility and cognate status with respect to German. The results show clear effects of cross-language gender compatibility and cognate status on response accuracy, certainty, and consistency. Feedback during training reduced gender errors approximately by half, and affected the different item conditions similarly. Furthermore, relative to the initial error rates, incorrect gender responses given with great certainty were not harder to modify than those with lower certainty. The results provide insights into the nature and stability of correct and incorrect gender representations in L2, and demonstrate the pervasiveness of transfer from the first to the second language even after intensive training.
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- Academic publications [238441]
- Electronic publications [122523]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [29483]
- Open Access publications [97518]
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