N-N compounds in L2 French and L3 English

Abstract This study considers the acquisition of nominal compounding in L2 French and L3 English among L1 Arabic speakers. Arabic N‑N compounds have the structure [N Head -N Modifier ]; English has the structure [N Modifier -N Head ]. French uses phrasal compounds [N-PP], also found in Arabic and English. The participants completed a forced-choice selection task. In L2 French, the L2 beginners converged with the L1 French speakers regarding phrasal compounds; however, they significantly transferred the Arabic N-N. L1 Arabic had (non)-facilitative influence on L2 French. In contrast, the advanced L2 learners showed nativelike performance in using both structures. In L3 English, the L3 beginners used phrasal compounds and L1 N‑N forms, supporting the L1 transfer scenario and the Linguistic Proximity Model in early L3 acquisition. In the L3 advanced stage, proficiency overrode native non-facilitative transfer. Overall, the findings support surface overlap and derivation simplicity as predictors of transfer in L2 and L3 acquisition.