Second language versus third language acquisition: A comparison of the English lexical competence of monolingual and bilingual students

Abstract

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:36.0pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> This study focuses on the differences between SLA and TLA, namely the effect of bilingualism and that of the L2 on the acquisition of an L3. The findings are based on the assessment of the English lexical competence of Hungarian monolingual, Hungarian-Romanian bilingual and Romanian monolingual students, all of whom are learners of English as an L2 or an L3. It has been found that the Hungarian-Romanian bilingual group has performed better than the Hungarian monolingual group, and the Romanian monolingual group has achieved the highest scores. The study also focuses on the performance of the three groups concerning cognate versus non-cognate target words, in which respect evidence of the cognate facilitating effect and that of the finite effort effect has been found. The results of this study confirm that bilingualism has a positive effect on L3 acquisition but in addition to this, the attributes of the previously learnt languages have an important role as well.