Language Input, Phonological Properties, Lexical-Semantic Knowledge, and English Past Tense Production in Dual Language Learners

Purpose: This preliminary study explored patterns of English past tense production, in 10 Spanish-L1-English-L2 dual language learners (DLLs), predicted by Bybee’s usage-based Network Model (NM). Methodology: DLLs completed the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment and the semantic and morphosyntax subtests from the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA). The Paradis corpus was employed, as a representative corpus, to index English language input among DLLs. Using these data, we examined the relationship between language input (i.e., word and lemma frequencies for verbs) and phonological properties (i.e., stem-final endings corresponding to regular past tense allomorphs) found to relate to past tense production during English second language (L2) acquisition. Connections between English lexical and semantic knowledge and the use of the past tense were also investigated, as research has linked lexical, semantic, and broad grammatical skills during children’s L2 language acquisition. Data and analysis: A Friedman test and Kendall’s tau- b correlations were conducted to compare production accuracy between the allomorphs and to determine relationships between language input, phonological properties, lexical-semantic knowledge and English past tense production. Conclusions: DLLs produced past tense allomorphs with comparable rates of accuracy. In addition, DLLs’ use of allomorph /d/ positively correlated with their semantic knowledge in English. Relationships between past tense production accuracy, language input, and lexical knowledge were not observed. Originality: This study uniquely contributes to our understanding of the potential link between language input, phonological properties, lexical-semantic knowledge and English pasttense marking in dual language learners. Significance: These findings extend our understanding of English past tense production during childhood L2 acquisition.