Language transfer and positional bias in English stress

(Garcia, 2020)

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Abstract

This paper shows that L1 transfer may not be effectively maintained in the interlanguage due to confounding factors in the L2. When two factors, $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$, are correlated in the L2, second language learners may only acquire $\mathcal{B}$, even if $\mathcal{A}$ is present in the L1. Transfer may not be effective because $\mathcal{B}$, being more robust in the input, conceals $\mathcal{A}$. Native speakers, on the other hand, generalize $\mathcal{A}$ in spite of $\mathcal{B}$. The variables in question are weight-sensitivity ($\mathcal{A}$) and positional bias ($\mathcal{B}$) in English, both of which can predict the location of stress in the language. I show that two seemingly target-like groups of second language learners of English (speakers of Mandarin and speakers Portuguese) fail to accurately generalize weight-sensitivity in the language, and instead display response patterns which are predictable given the existing positional bias in English stress.

Keywords: transfer, stress, weight, positional bias, English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Bayes

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Copyright © 2025 Guilherme Duarte Garcia

References

Garcia, G. D. (2020). Language transfer and positional bias in English stress. Second Language Research, 36(4), 445–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658319882457