Multilingual learners’ perceptions of cross-linguistic distances: a proposal for a visual psychotypological measure

Abstract

Recent research suggests that psychotypology may be one of the main factors determining L3 acquisition and use, especially so in the early stages. However, the existence and nature of multilingual learners’ perception of language proximity have often only been assumed rather than measured, and rarely addressed with respect to the increasingly established understanding of the multilingual mind as a complex interconnected system. The present study examines the perception of phonological proximity in a group of 44 multilinguals (aged 12–13), by means of a visual psychotypological measure. All participants had the same language repertoires, with English always being their L2, but German and Polish either their L1 or L3. This specific mirror-image design tapped the potential role of language status. The results show that their psychotypology largely coincided with actual typology, identifying English-German as most similar. However, an L1 effect was found as well; while the L1 Polish group perceived the three language pairs as more equidistant, the L1 German group clearly distinguished between them. The data also showed individual variability, confirming the need to recognize psychotypology as a unique driving force in a multilingual’s learning process.

Keywords:

• L3 acquisition
• multilingualism
• psychotypology
• typology
• phonological proximity
• psychotypological measure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 This was done because larger numbers signify greater distance in ViLDiM (the higher the value, the more distant the languages), but greater similarity in the questionnaire (the lower the rating, the more distant the languages).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christina Nelson

Christina Nelson is a PhD student at the English Department at the University of Münster, Germany. Her research interests include differences in the language development of multilingual adults and children as well as teaching and learning L2/L3 phonetics and phonology.

Iga Krzysik

Iga Krzysik is a PhD student at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Her main research interests include phonological development in bilingualism and multilingualism and the effect of individual differences on language acquisition.

Halina Lewandowska

Halina Lewandowska is a PhD student at the English Faculty of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Her research interests include multilingual acquisition in the scope of phonology as well as the relationship between language and music.

Magdalena Wrembel

Magdalena Wrembel, PhD, D. Litt. is a University professor at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Her main research areas involve SLA of speech, phonological acquisition of the third language, multilingualism, language awareness as well as innovative trends in pronunciation pedagogy. She has published extensively in international journals and edited collections.