Infinitival subordination in Spanish: A study of control, raising and ECM constructions in bilingual and non-native acquisition

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the acquisition of infinitival clauses by child bilingual (L1 English/L1 Spanish) and adult non-native (L1 English/L2 Spanish) learners in Control, Raising and ECM configurations as shown in examples (i)-(iiii). (i) Juani quiere [PROi ver a Maria] John wants [PROi to see to Mary]; (ii) Juan obligo a Maria i a [PROi tomar una decision] Juan forced Maryi [PROi to decide]; (iii) Juani parece [ti estar cansado] John seems [ti to be tired]; (iv) Juan vio a Maria [regar las plantas] (John saw Mary watering the plants) John believes Mary [to be a friend]. The first part of this dissertation deals with the development of infinitival clauses in natural production data from bilingual children compared to monolingual (L1 English and L1 Spanish) children [ages 2;03-5;01], and the interaction of the relevant formal properties in bilingual grammars where Spanish and English do not match. The second part of this dissertation also deals with interaction regarding their formal and structural properties where L1 and L2 grammars do not match. I study the acceptance and comprehension of infinitival clauses in experimental data from adults learning Spanish in an institutional setting. I statistically compare them to a control group of adult native speakers in order to determine the effect of the L1. I also divide the experimental group into two levels, intermediate and advanced, in order to study the effect of the level of language proficiency. The main goal of this dissertation is to provide more insights on similarities and differences between the bilingual and non-native acquisition processes, particularly regarding transfer of formal properties associated with functional categories and projections related to Control, Raising and ECM constructions (i.e., Tense and the Complementizer system). Ultimately, this dissertation may contribute to a better understanding of the nature of bilingual and L2 grammars, and to the discussion regarding the similarities and differences between L1 and L2 acquisition by looking at factors that can be studied when more than one grammar is available.