Can lexical and morphosyntactic dialect features be acquired by L3 speakers? The case of Poles in Tromsø

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: There is scant literature on second dialect acquisition for both L1 and L2 speakers (Drummond, 2013; Gnevsheva et al., 2022), with no literature on L3 speakers. In this article, we focus on dialect acquisition in multilinguals, in participants’ third or additional language acquired in adulthood. We explore this in the context of Norway, a country with significant dialectal variation and where dialects have relative prestige. Design/Methodology/Approach: A translation task and an acceptability judgement task (AJT) were used to assess Polish–English–Norwegian speakers’ production (in the lexicon) and perception (in morphosyntax) of the Tromsø dialect. Data and Analysis: We assessed use of dialect forms in the translation task between groups (L1 Norwegian-L2 English and L1 Polish-L2 English-L3 Norwegian) with a linear mixed effects model. We also used Random Forests and a linear mixed effects model to assess dialect use within the L1 Polish group against seventeen sociolinguistic and linguistic variables. Finally, we used a linear mixed effects model to examine AJT responses between groups. Findings/conclusions: We find that some participants use the Tromsø dialect in production (albeit variably), and key predictors of this are how much they like the Tromsø dialect and passive language use in Norwegian. Participants do not appear to be sensitive to dialectal differences in morphosyntax. Significance/Implications: L3 learners who immigrated as adults can and do use the local dialect, and this use is modulated by social factors. In addition, such learners seem more able to use and exploit their knowledge of dialectal differences at the lexical level.