Laboratory studies on multilingual cognition and further language development. (21st December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sanz, Cristina; Cox, Jessica G.
• Is Part Of: Language teaching. Volume 50:Part 1(2017:Jan.)
• Page Start: 65
• Page End: 79
• Publication Date: 2016-12-21
• Subjects: Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 418.0071
• DOI: 10.1017/S026144481600029X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-4448

Abstract

Abstract : Multilingualism is now seen as the norm rather than the exception in an age of migration and supranational entities, and where minority language rights and the consequent educational policies have become more common. The field of applied linguistics reflects that transition:second language acquisition (sla) research is slowly being replaced by research onmultilingualism, which includes third language (L3) acquisition. Indeed, there is a growing list of studies that are 'normalizing' third language acquisition by studying bilinguals learning a new language but not considering bilingualism a variable (e.g. Stafford, Sanz & Bowden2012 ; Lado et al.2014 ; Pérez-Vidal2014 ; Cox & Sanz2015 ). In this modern global context, researchers have produced empirical research on L3 acquisition that can be divided into three main categories depending on its focus: (a) classroom studies conducted in bilingual communities and schools with students learning a third language as part of the school curriculum (Cenoz2013 ); (b) research on cross-linguistic influence investigating sources of transfer from L1 or L2 into the L3 (e.g. Sanz, Park & Lado2014 ) and other possible directions for transfer (González Alonso et al.2016 ); and (c) laboratory research – that is, studies outside of classroom or immersion contexts, in which dependent and independent variables can be tightly controlled by the researcher – conducted within a cognitive approach, the focus of this timeline. Despite its potential diminished ecological validity, this last strand is characterized by the robustness of its design and its improved overall validity, and by the manipulation of external conditions and the measurement of internal variables related to cognition.