L2 Influence in L3 Acquisition: The Role of the L3

Abstract

With the present study, we aim at investigating to what extent the L3 affects transfer from background languages. To this end, we investigate two L3s – L3 German and L3 French – while keeping the L1 (Dutch) and the L2 (English) constant. To examine the two L3s in contrast, we compare data from two previous studies on third-year Dutch/English bilingual stream students (L3 French) to new data gathered amongst the same type of learners taking German as an L3. Data were gathered by means of a gap-filling task and a grammaticality judgement task. The results indicate significantly more L2 English influence on L3 French than on L3 German. We argue that this is due to perceived typological and structural resemblance between L1 Dutch and L3 German.