An overview of third language acquisition research
An overview of third language acquisition research

Summary/Abstract: The goal of this paper is to provide a short state-of-the-art review of third language (L3) acquisition research from a generative point of view. I present some of the most important theoretical models of morphosyntactic transfer along with the results of exemplar studies that test them. Research in this field of study is most interested in tracing transfer, identifying its source(s) – first language (L1) and/or second language (L2) – and determining its nature – facilitative or non-facilitative in the process of attaining proficiency in L3 (see Rothman et al. 2019). Experimental results indicate that both previously acquired languages (L1 and L2) can be transferred in a facilitative and non-facilitative manner, approving or contradicting some of the proposed models of transfer. I conclude that there is a need for more research, testing the models across different language combinations and thus providing answers to the questions raised by the field.

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