The Acquisition of English Caused State Change Events by Chinese–English—Japanese Trilinguals: A Focus on Cross-Linguistic Influence

Aims and objectives: This study investigates how Chinese–English (C-E) bilinguals and Chinese–English–Japanese (C-E-J) trilinguals express English caused state change events (CSC), focusing on the similarities and differences between the two groups. It explores the underlying motivations with an emphasis on cross-linguistic influence, particularly the inverse typological effect of the L3 (Japanese) on the L2 (English), as modulated by L3 proficiency. Design and methodology: This study employed a video description task to compare C-E bilinguals and C-E-J trilinguals differing in Japanese proficiency (low-to-intermediate/high). Participants (no. 96) described 12 video clips depicting CSC events. Data and analysis: The database comprised CSC descriptions of C-E bilinguals (no. 32), C-E-J trilinguals with low Japanese proficiency (no. 32), and C-E-J trilinguals with high Japanese proficiency (no. 32). Analyses focused on two dimensions: (1) semantic structure and (2) cognitive mechanisms. Findings and conclusions: (1) Trilinguals showed more inaccuracies in employing S-constructions and reduced semantic precision in expressing [manner] information. They also exhibited lower frequencies of employing alternative manner expressions, complete causal chains, and causal tight forms. (2) The impact of L3 (Japanese) typological framework features was primarily negative, with cognitive aspects showing clearer signs of change than semantic aspects. As learners’ Japanese proficiency increased, reliance on transfer from L1 Chinese declined, while the shared V-language typology of Japanese and English became salient in L2 (English) production. Originality: This study advances novel research on the inverse effects of L3 on L2, with a particular focus on CSC as a new research object. Significance and implication: Our findings confirm that in multilingual acquisition, the linguistic distance and proficiency of the subsequent language (L3) influence the previous language (L2).