The Additive Influence of Bilingualism on Educational Third Language Acquisition

This study explores the influence of bilingualism on the process of educational third language acquisition (TLA) among adolescents who have previously acquired proficiency a second language. Within contemporary research, it is frequently suggested that bilingualism positively influences the process of TLA, since bilinguals are familiar with language processing strategies and have almost certainly developed multicompetence (Cenoz, 2003; De la Fuente & Lacroix, 2015; Ter Kuile, Veldhuis, Van Veen, & Wicherts, 2011). This study takes into consideration the concept of ‘focus on multilingualism’, which emphasizes the multilingual speaker, their whole linguistic repertoire, and the social context when analyzing TLA (Cenoz, 2013). In order to examine whether previous acquired linguistic knowledge by bilinguals benefits the process of TLA within an educational setting, a survey was conducted among 29 bilingual students who are currently acquiring Korean as an additional language at Leiden...Show moreThis study explores the influence of bilingualism on the process of educational third language acquisition (TLA) among adolescents who have previously acquired proficiency a second language. Within contemporary research, it is frequently suggested that bilingualism positively influences the process of TLA, since bilinguals are familiar with language processing strategies and have almost certainly developed multicompetence (Cenoz, 2003; De la Fuente & Lacroix, 2015; Ter Kuile, Veldhuis, Van Veen, & Wicherts, 2011). This study takes into consideration the concept of ‘focus on multilingualism’, which emphasizes the multilingual speaker, their whole linguistic repertoire, and the social context when analyzing TLA (Cenoz, 2013). In order to examine whether previous acquired linguistic knowledge by bilinguals benefits the process of TLA within an educational setting, a survey was conducted among 29 bilingual students who are currently acquiring Korean as an additional language at Leiden University. The results obtained from the surveys are divided into three groups, based on in which stage in life the respective students have acquired proficiency in their additional language. The conducted survey consists of 20 questions regarding the students’ perspectives towards the effect of their age-specific bilingualism on their process of acquiring Korean as a L3, in terms of learning grammar, pronunciation and words. The data obtained from this study demonstrates three unexpected findings, which have not been previously indicated within the research field of TLA and bilingualism. Firstly, students who acquired proficiency in a second language before the age of 10 are more positive about the influence of bilingualism on acquiring the appropriate pronunciation in the process of TLA, than about the impact of bilingualism on learning grammatical structures. Secondly, speakers of at least one non-Germanic language were more positive about the influence of bilingualism on learning grammar and pronunciation, as opposed to speakers of only Germanic languages. Thirdly, students who have been exposed to two or more languages between birth and the age of 4 are the most positive about the influence of bilingualism on learning words. This study argues that early bilinguals are more likely to demonstrate cross-linguistic influence between their acquired languages, causing them to be more positive about the experience of learning an additional language. Subsequently, this study suggests that the process of cross-linguistic influence between two typologically different languages is likely to positively influence student’s perspectives on learning an additional typologically different language. Finally, this study proposes that speakers of bilingual FLA are positive about the influence of their bilingualism on learning words, since they perceive their prior linguistic knowledge as the necessary experience to accomplish proficiency in an additional language.Show less

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The Additive Influence of Bilingualism on Educational Third Language Acquisition