Incidental morphosyntactic learning in a second language during conversation: The acquisition of stem allomorphy in German strong verbs by adult native speakers of Dutch

Abstract

This study investigated the acquisition of stemvowel-changes in strong German verbs in a communicative, yet controlled context (also see De Vos, Schriefers, & Lemhöfer, in prep. a, b). We compared the learning outcomes of advanced L2 German learners (L1 Dutch) in an implicit (n=10) and an explicit (n=10) instruction condition, applied to a meaning-based conversational task. In the implicit condition, a cover story concealed the study’s intentions; in the explicit condition, learners were aware of the research topic, i.e. learning of the obligatory stem-vowel change in German strong verbs from native speaker input during conversation. Both groups showed significant learning effects during a conversational task, illustrating that the principles of morphosyntactic learning can occur during conversation, incidentally or intentionally. The absence of significant group differences at the level of learning suggests that explicit instruction did not have an apparent added value (also see Andringa, de Glopper, & Hacquebord, 2011).