Conceptual Transfer Studies in the context of Second Language Acquisition: A Scoping Review

Xu Zhaorong, Roslina Mamat, Zaid Mohd Zin

Abstract


Conceptual transfer has emerged as a prominent focus in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research since1998 . Given the complex and diverse theoretical frameworks associated with conceptual transfer, a commitment to methodological rigor within this field becomes imperative. This scoping review has synthesised empirical studies on conceptual transfer, focusing on publications indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index and Chinese Social Science Index from 1998 onwards. A total of 55 studies were coded in terms of adopted theories, research lines of inquiry, participant backgrounds, and research design. The primary aim was to identify the range of goals to date and emerging trends for future research. Our analysis has revealed that empirical research in this area encompassed a broad scope of inquiry lines and employed various research designs. However, several gaps in previous studies were identified, including the following: (1) a lack of critical theoretical explanations in their empirical studies; (2) an unbalanced development of lines of inquiry in conceptual transfer studies; (3) a lack of attention to target foreign languages other than English and participants from alternative educational levels; and (4) homogenisation issues in both their data collection and analysis process. These gaps underscored the pressing need for a more comprehensive and multi-dimensional investigation in the future.

 

Keywords: conceptual transfer; conceptualization; cognitive; second language acquisition; scoping review


Full Text:

PDF

References


Adamou, E., De Pascale, S., García-Márkina, Y. & Padure, C. 2019. Do bilinguals generalize estar more than monolinguals and what is the role of conceptual transfer?. International Journal of Bilingualism 23(6): 1549-1580.

Alonso, R. A., Alonso, M. A. & Mariñas, L. T. 2012. Hedging: An exploratory study of pragmatic transfer in nonnative English readers' rhetorical preferences. Ibérica 23: 47-64.

Arksey, H. & O'Malley, L. 2005. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International journal of social research methodology 8(1): 19-32.

Austen, S. & Jarvis, S. 2021. Conceptual meaning in Italian speaking learners’ expression of temporality in L2 English. Journal of Second Language Studies 4(1): 121-153.

Aveledo, F. & Athanasopoulos, P. 2023. Bidirectional cross-linguistic influence in motion event conceptualisation in bilingual speakers of Spanish and English. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 61(1): 13-36.

Baten, K. & De Cuypere, L. 2014. The dative alternation in L2 German? Conceptualization transfer from L1 Dutch. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11: 9-40.

Bylund, E. & Athanasopoulos, P. 2014. Linguistic relativity in SLA: Toward a new research program. Language learning 64(4): 952-985.

Bylund, E. & Jarvis, S. 2011. L2 effects on L1 event conceptualization. Bilingualism: Language and cognition 14(1): 47-59.

Cai, J.T. 2015. Comparison-induction Methodological Framework for Judging L1 Transfer in L2 Production. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 38 (5): 56-65.

Cai, J.T. 2021. Language Transfer. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Cao, D. & Badger, R. 2023. Cross-linguistic influence on the use of L2 collocations: the case of Vietnamese learners. Applied Linguistics Review 14(3): 421-446.

Chen, L. & Oller, J. W. 2008. The use of passives and alternatives in English by Chinese speakers. APPLICATIONS OF COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS 9: 385.

Daller, M. H., Treffers-Daller, J. & Furman, R. 2011. Transfer of conceptualization patterns in bilinguals: The construal of motion events in Turkish and German. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 14(1): 95-119.

Ellis, R. 2005. Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study. Studies in second language acquisition 27(2): 141-172.

Flecken, M. 2011. Event conceptualization by early Dutch–German bilinguals: Insights from linguistic and eye-tracking data. Bilingualism: Language and cognition 14(1): 61-77.

Jarvis, S. 2007. Theoretical and methodological issues in the investigation of conceptual transfer. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 4: 43-71.

Jarvis, S. 2011. Conceptual transfer: Crosslinguistic effects in categorization and construal. Bilingualism: language and cognition 14(1): 1-8.

Jarvis, S. 2016. Clarifying the scope of conceptual transfer. Language Learning 66(3): 608-635.

Jarvis, S. & Pavlenko, A. 2008. Crosslinguistic influence in language and cognition. New York: Routledge.

Jia, G.M. 2019. A study of Chinese EFL learners’ use of counterfactual expressions. Foreign Language Teaching and Research (bimonthly) 51(6): 850-860.

Kujamäki, M. 2019. Source text influence in student translation: results of a longitudinal study. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 13(4): 390-407.

Liu, X.H. & Chen, Y.P. 2021. Bidirectional conceptual transfer in motion events of Chinese EFL learners. Foreign language teaching and research (bimonthly) 53(3): 387-399.

Mifka-Profozic, N. 2017. Processing epistemic modality in a second language: a self-paced reading study. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 55(3): 245-264.

Odlin, T. 1989. Language transfer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Park, H. I., Jarvis, S. & Kim, J. E. 2022. Exploring motion event construal: How much attention do speakers of different languages and cultures pay to context?. Lingua 265: 103164.

Pavlenko, A. 2009. Conceptual representation in the bilingual lexicon and second language vocabulary learning. The bilingual mental lexicon: Interdisciplinary approaches 70.

Pavlenko, A. & Malt, B. C. 2011. Kitchen Russian: Cross-linguistic differences and first-language object naming by Russian–English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 14(1): 19-45.

Sharpen, R. 2016. L1 conceptual transfer in the acquisition of L2 motion events in Spanish and English: the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis. Open Linguistics 2(1).

Stojičić, V. & Stamenković, D. 2016. Crosslanguage research on encoding coextension paths in English (L2) to Serbian (L1) translation: An empirical study. Perspectives 24(4): 635-645.

Tang, M., Vanek, N. & Roberts, L. 2021. Crosslinguistic influence on English and Chinese L2 speakers’ conceptualization of event series. International Journal of Bilingualism 25(1): 205-223.

Wang, R. 2015. A Corpus-based Study on Verb-noun Collocation Errors by Chinese Non-English Majors from the Perspective of Conceptual Transfer. Foreign Language Research 184 (3): 120-124.

Wang, Y. & Wei, L. 2023. Multilingual learning and cognitive restructuring: The role of audiovisual media exposure in Cantonese–English–Japanese multilinguals’ motion event cognition. International Journal of Bilingualism 27(3): 331-348.

Wolter, B., Yamashita, J. & Leung, C. Y. 2020. Conceptual transfer and lexical development in adjectives of space: Evidence from judgments, reaction times, and eye tracking. Applied Psycholinguistics 41(3): 595-625.

Wu, S. L., Nunome, T. & Wang, J. 2022. Crosslinguistic influence in the conceptualization of motion events: A synthesis study on L2 acquisition of Chinese motion expressions. Second Language Research 02676583221132205.

Xu, Q.L., Liu, Z.Q. & Cai, J.T. 2014. The influence of the categorization of reference objects on the use of the English spatial preposition in by Chinese learners. Foreign Language Teaching and Research 46(5): 723-734.

Zaychenko, K. 2022. Grammatical and cognitive factors shaping the conceptualization of motion events: A cross-linguistic investigation of language production and memory performance. Languages in Contrast 22(1): 136-159.

Zhang, A.P. 2014. An empirical study of reverse conceptual transfer in Chinese compliment response behaviors among English and Japanese learners in China. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 37 (1): 109-118.

Zhang, H. P. & Liu, Y. B. 2014. Grammatical conceptual transfer involving “run-on sentence” errors made by Chinese beginner learners of English. Foreign Language Teaching and Research 5: 748-758.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


ISSN: 0126-5008

eISSN: 0126-8694