NON-ERRORS OF THE THIRD KIND? AN INVESTIGATION OF INTERLANGUAGE PRODUCTION BY L2, L3, AND L4 LEARNERS OF ITALIAN
Abstract (summary)
This study questions relationships of prior foreign language experience and factors associated with second language learning to target language production. To investigate this question, written target language samples of thirty-nine college students in beginning Italian were analyzed for production of ten morphemes and for percentage of error-free T-Units. Other variables tested included grade point average, SAT scores, sex, major, year in school, in addition to prior language experience.
Results demonstrated that morpheme orders of accuracy between groups were generally similar with the exception of the least experienced group, which tended to be not similar. Some cognitive variables demonstrated significant relationships to T-Unit scores and to one morpheme score. A significant relationship was demonstrated between sex and one morpheme score. Statistically significant differences for morpheme scores were generally not demonstrated between sex and one morpheme score. Statistically significant differences for morpheme scores were generally not demonstrated between language experience groups, although means were often slightly higher for the most experienced language group. An average number of obligatory contexts by language experience groups showed promise as an indicator of effects of prior language experience on interlanguage production.