Article One: Edele, Kempert and Schotte (2018)
This article by Edele, Kempert and Schotte (2018), undertakes to examine the role of immigrant bilingualism in third language. In order to effectively respond to the objective, the authors have focused on the respective effects of student’s competence in the minority language. In addition to this, the article notes that bilingualism is associated with benefits that are beyond the proficient command of two languages. According to Edele et al (2018), the underlying hypothesis being supported by the article is that bilingualism promotes L3 learning through the possession of enhanced metalinguistic awareness that provides a resource for additional language learning. Additionally, the article was able to determine the role of varying proficiency levels in L1 and L2 as well as the resultant bilingual profiles that are witnessed while learning a foreign language such as English.
The method that was used was to analyze the data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which was a longitudinal nationwide study of education. Information used was obtained from wave one (grade 9: fall semester), wave two (grade 9: spring semester) and wave 3 (grade 10: fall semester). A trained test administrator in the class setting at school was used to administer the student questionnaires and proficiency tests. The sample was for students whose families had been able to migrate from Turkey or the Soviet Union to Germany. In addition, they were able to possess a threshold proficiency in Russian/Turkish based on the screening test. The other group of analysis was students without an immigration background, who were born in Germany and who the research considered monolingual German-speaking. The areas under test were English proficiency, German proficiency, Russian/Turkish proficiency, family background, general cognitive ability and the linguistic distance between German/Russian, Turkish and English. The results noted that in both groups, there was a balanced bilinguals at a high level exhibited L3 levels which were higher as compared to those of the average monolingual student.
Article Two: Wang (2013)
The influence of the native language on an interlanguage has been studies through theorizing and studying the role of transfer in the field of Second language Acquisition (SLA). The article notes that the study of language learning through first and second language acquisition is not able to offer an effective understanding of the full capacity of humans as they strive to acquire languages. This is however, despite the fact that SLA has been expanded to include other factors in cross-linguistic influences. The article therefore seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current knowledge in third language acquisition and as a result, have been able to select studies that were based on the range of linguistic domains such as phonology, lexicon/morphology, and syntax and the range of theoretical viewpoints that they used to substantiate and supported by their data and findings.
The article by Wang (2013) has taken the direction of a case study and theoretical analysis framework. In the first section of the paper, the author presents a theoretical overview in the first section of the paper with an objective of providing background knowledge of the current theories on the psycholinguistic factors that are involved in L3 acquisition. The second part of the paper has been able to present an in-depth analysis of some prominent studies on the topic of interlanguage transfer. The studies ranges are organized according to the linguistic domains in order to ensure that there is a comprehensive overview. Through the case studies and the literature review, the author has been able to provide valuable contributions where readers have a better understanding of the factors which tend to influence interlanguage transfer within various linguistic domains. The author further acknowledges that in future research, there will be need to consider the L2 status effect, proficiency, or recency as other factors outside of psychotypological distance.
Article Three: Cenoz (2003)
This article has been able to look at the general effects of bilingualism on cognitive development and further highlights the specific effects of bilingualism on third language acquisition. It is essential to note that the article has been able to examine the effects of bilingualism on cognitive development, metalinguistic awareness and communicative skills. It later focuses on the specific effects of bilingualism by discussing the results of various researches which were conducted in different settings and contexts. The method that has been used by the researcher is a case review where he has been able to review the studies on the effects of bilingualism on cognitive development, metalinguistic awareness and communicative skills. The other dimensions has been to discuss studies carried out on the effect of bilingualism on L3 proficiency and what the results states about the topic under discussion.
All the various studies that Cenoz (2003) examined were able to confirm the advantages of bilinguals over monolinguals in language learning. There are more results which are consistent that are concerned with the general aspect of proficiency. On the other hand, areas that are more specific in language proficiency do not offer accuracy as the one on general aspects. It is worth noting that in order to have an effective understanding on the relationship of bilingualism and the third language acquisition, it is vital for a general aspect and very specific aspects to be considered. The studies indicate that both aspects are important since they are able to complement each other. The case presented can be able to present an understanding of the third language. However, different authors and studies have different aims and use different methodological approaches. The challenge in most cases has been the generalization of findings which tends to be difficult to comprehend and understand the topic in question.
References
Cenoz, J. (2003). The additive effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition: A review, Volume 7, Number 1, 71-87
Edele, A., Kempert, S and Schotte, K. (2018). Does competent bilingualism entail advantages for the third language learning of immigrant students? Learning and Instructions, 58 pp 232-244
Wang, T. (2013). Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Factors Influencing Interlanguage Transfer. Retrievable at http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tesolalwebjournal
