L’influence translinguistique sur l’acquisition des pronoms clitiques en catalan L2 chez des enfants lusophones et francophones

Abstract

This study focuses on the acquisition of clitic pronouns in L2 Catalan learners. The aim of this study is to
observe the acquisition of clitic pronouns in L2 Catalan by Portuguese and French children. The target forms in
this study are accusative, dative and adverbial clitics. All participants, aged between 9 and 11 years old, are
attending a primary school in Andorra. Specifically, this study explores if Catalan learners are acquiring those
target forms when using clitic left-dislocation structures. In those constructions, an argument of the clause is
dislocated to the left and a clitic pronoun is required in the main sentence. There is considerable literature on this
subject: Montrul (2004) and Sorace (2009), among others, consider that constructions involving syntax and
pragmatics can present more difficulties in the acquisition of a second language.