Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Hispanic Studies

Supervisor

Dr. Joyce Bruhn de Garavito

Abstract

This dissertation investigates whether L2 Spanish learners’ grammar intuitions on code-switching (CS) show evidence of the predictions made by the Functional Head Constraint (FHC) proposed by Belazi, Rubin, & Toribio (1994). Building on this theory, the present work supports the idea that L2 learners have an intuitive sense of code-switching well-formedness, i.e., they count on unconscious grammatical principles to produce code-switched utterances as well as to assess their grammaticality. Our primary research question is: given the usual absence of CS input that classroom L2 learners receive, will their grammar intuitions on CS show evidence of the predictions made by the FHC? In order to answer this question, we carried out two experiments with two different groups of L2 Spanish learners: native speakers of English and French with different level of proficiency in the L2.

In Experiment 1, we used an Acceptability Judgment Task (AJT) administered in Toribio (2001a) to evaluate participants’ grammatical intuitions on (un)grammatical switching boundaries. In Experiment 2 we employed two tasks to have two types of experimental data: A Self-paced Reading Task (SPRT) which looked at participants’ real time processing, and an AJT to observe their grammatical intuitions.

Confirming our hypothesis and in line with the FHC, we found that participants have accurate grammar intuitions about CS. These results are consistent with previous studies (Toribio, 2001a; Dussias, 2003; Koronkiewicz, 2018; Giancaspro, 2013, 2015) at proving that L2 learners exhibit linguistic knowledge of the structural restrictions in CS. The analysis per groups further showed that both the English and French intermediate learners’ exhibited more accurate acceptability responses than the beginner group. Intermediate L2 Spanish learners distinguished between grammatical and ungrammatical CS while beginners had problems recognizing grammaticality especially in switches after modal/auxiliary, quantifier, preposition and adjectives. Results obtained in both experiments demonstrate that L2 learners treat differently and distinguish grammatical and ungrammatical CS. However, as seen in Experiment 1, they are not always successful at judging CS as acceptable or unacceptable based on the FHC predictions. The present study contributes to our understanding of L2 learners’ grammatical knowledge on CS constraints by examining the grammar intuitions and processing and the role of L2 proficiency and their L1 within and between groups.

Summary for Lay Audience

This dissertation investigates whether L2 Spanish learners’ grammar judgment on code-switching (CS) show evidence of the predictions made by the Functional Head Constraint (FHC) proposed by Belazi, Rubin, & Toribio (1994). Building on this theory, the present work supports the idea that adult second language (L2) learners have an intuitive sense of code-switching well-formedness, i.e., they count on unconscious grammatical principles to produce code-switched utterances as well as to assess their grammaticality. Our primary research question is: given the usual absence of CS input that classroom L2 learners receive, will their grammar intuitions on CS show evidence of the predictions made by the FHC? In order to answer this question, we carried out two experiments with two different groups of L2 Spanish learners: native speakers of English and French with different level of proficiency in the L2.

Confirming our hypothesis and in line with the FHC, we found that participants have accurate grammar intuitions about CS. We found that L2 learners exhibit linguistic knowledge of the structural restrictions in CS. Results obtained in both experiments demonstrate that L2 learners treat differently and distinguish grammatical and ungrammatical CS. However, as seen in Experiment 1, they are not always successful at judging CS as acceptable or unacceptable based on the FHC predictions. The present study contributes to our understanding of L2 learners’ grammatical knowledge on CS constraints by examining the grammar intuitions and processing and the role of L2 proficiency and their L1 within and between groups.

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