Does Learning Spanish Grammatical Gender Change English-Speaking Adults' Categorization of Inanimate Objects?

Autor/inn/en	Kurinski, Elena; Sera, Maria D.
Titel	Does Learning Spanish Grammatical Gender Change English-Speaking Adults' Categorization of Inanimate Objects?
Quelle	In: Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14 (2011) 2, S.203-220 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1366-7289
DOI	10.1017/S1366728910000179
Schlagwörter	Speech Communication; Grammar; Spanish; Second Language Learning; Classification; Language Acquisition; Form Classes (Languages); College Students; Task Analysis; Adult Learning; Native Speakers; Language Proficiency + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Grammatik; Spanisch; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Analytischer Sprachbau; Collegestudent; Aufgabenanalyse; Adulte education; Adult training; Erwachsenenbildung; Muttersprachler; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz
Abstract	Second language acquisition studies can contribute to the body of research on the influence of language on thought by examining cognitive change as a result of second language learning. We conducted a longitudinal study that examined how the acquisition of Spanish grammatical gender influences categorization in native English-speaking adults. We asked whether learning the grammatical gender of Spanish affects adult native English speakers' attribution of gender to inanimate objects. College students enrolled in beginning Spanish participated in two tasks repeatedly (four times) throughout one academic year. One task examined their acquisition of grammatical gender. The other examined their categorization of inanimate objects. We began to observe changes in participants' grammatical gender acquisition and in categorization after ten weeks of Spanish instruction. Results indicate that learning a second language as an adult can change the way one categorizes objects. However, the effect of Spanish grammatical gender was more limited in Spanish learners than in native Spanish speakers; it was not observed for all kinds of objects nor did it increase with learners' proficiency, suggesting that adults learning Spanish reach a plateau beyond which changes in categorization do not occur. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Cambridge University Press. The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8RU, UK. Tel: 800-872-7423; Tel: 845-353-7500; Tel: +44-1223-326070; Fax: 845-353-4141; Fax: +44-1223-325150; e-mail: subscriptions_newyork@cambridge.org; Web site: http://www.cambridge.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10