The impact of first language background and visual information on the effectiveness of low-variability input

This study investigated whether first language (L1) background and visual information impact the effectiveness of skewed and balanced input at promoting pattern detection. Participants (N = 84) were exposed to Esperanto sentences with the transitive construction under skewed (one noun with high token frequency) or balanced (equal token frequency) input conditions while viewing either color or black-and-white visuals. Their ability to detect the relevant morphological and syntactic features of the transitive construction was tested through a forced-judgment task using novel nouns. The results indicated no significant main effect for visual information or input type. There was, however, a significant main effect for L1 on learners’ detection of the novel pattern. Implications are discussed in terms of the potential effect of L1-specific transitive encodings on second language speakers’ ability to abstract novel patterns.

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