Pronoun Processing and Interpretation by L2 Learners of Italian: Perspectives from Cognitive Modelling

How do second language learners acquire form-meaning associations in the second language that are inconsistent with their first language? In this study, we focus on subject pronouns in Italian and Dutch. A native speaker of the non-null subject language Dutch learning the null subject language Italian as a second language will not only have to learn to use and comprehend null pronouns, but will also have to learn to use and comprehend overt pronouns differently in the L2 than in the L1. The interpretation of Italian overt pronouns, but not of Dutch overt pronouns or Italian null pronouns, has been argued to require perspective taking, specifically the use of hypotheses about the conversational partner’s communicative choices to guide one’s own choices. Therefore, a related question is how perspective taking and cognitive constraints influence L2 acquisition of such forms. Using computational cognitive modelling, this study explores two learning scenarios. In cognitive model 1, second language acquisition proceeds in the same way as first language acquisition and is based on the same grammar. In cognitive model 2, second language acquisition differs from first language acquisition and involves the construction of a partly different grammar. Our results suggest that the second scenario may be cognitively more plausible than the first one. Furthermore, our models explain why second language learners of Italian perform less native-like on overt pronouns than on null pronouns.