Research by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
The DFG-funded project LARES (Language Attitudes and Repertoires in the Emirates) provides the fi... more The DFG-funded project LARES (Language Attitudes and Repertoires in the Emirates) provides the first documentation of the sociolinguistic profiles of students living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) As the sociolinguistic status quo of the UAE is largely uncharted territory, the DFG-funded project LARES investigates the usage of and attitudes towards not only Arabic (the official language of the UAE) and English (the de facto lingua franca), but also all the other languages used by the student population in the UAE. The principal investigators Prof. Dr. Peter Siemund (University of Hamburg) and PD Dr. Jakob Leimgruber (Universities of Freiburg and Basel), in close cooperation with Prof. Dr. Ahmad Al-Issa (American University of Sharjah) and research assistants from the University of Hamburg, are conducting a sociolinguistic study that - furthermore - sets out to explore the features of English as spoken in the UAE (Gulf English), a globalized conurbation populated largely by highly transient expatriates from all over the world. With data from the student population of the American University of Sharjah (AUS), collected in the form of comprehensive, interactive online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study also provides information for language policy makers in the UAE, and will expand upon the current discussions about new models of World Englishes.
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Talks by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
New Ways of Analyzing Variation – Asia Pacific 6 (postponed until 2021), 2020
While the widespread use of pragmatic particles is a well-known and much-documented feature of Co... more While the widespread use of pragmatic particles is a well-known and much-documented feature of Colloquial Singapore English, a comprehensive account of their origins and evolution has yet to be established. The current study offers some first steps towards a diachronic reconstruction of pragmatic particles in Colloquial Singapore English. We investigate the use of five pragmatic particles (lah, ah, lor, leh, and meh) in 66 recordings drawn from the Oral History Interviews held by the National Archives of Singapore, a largely unused historical source for linguistic studies. The findings highlight the dynamics of language contact in Singapore as well as the important role of dominant languages in different historical eras of Singapore for the evolution of Colloquial Singapore English.
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Poznań Linguistic Meeting, 2019
Recent work on multilingualism and third language acquisition has led to an interesting paradox. ... more Recent work on multilingualism and third language acquisition has led to an interesting paradox. On the one hand, there is a growing body of research documenting the influence of all previously acquired languages on third (or additional) language acquisition, modulated by parameters such as typological and psychotypological proximity, genetic distance, language dominance, age of onset, recency of use, as well as several others. Arguably, third or additional language acquisition is subject to more cross-linguistic influence than second language acquisition, though most certainly not less and clearly not exclusively facilitative. On the other hand, research on multilingual development has accumulated suggestive evidence on the advantages of bilingual and multilingual upbringing and education, especially concerning cognitive development, cognitive reserve, and metalinguistic awareness, but also the acquisition of additional languages. Disadvantages, if identifiable at all, chiefly pertain to lexical development and verbal fluency. The advantages of multilingual development seem to play out most prominently in regards to more general skills (e.g. reading and listening comprehension), and less so in more specific knowledge domains like grammatical rules (subject-verb agreement, article usage, etc.). Moreover, they seem to be more clearly identifiable in multilinguals who boast high and comparable proficiency levels in their languages, as with balanced bilinguals in contrast to subtractive bilingual heritage speakers. In my contribution, I will first of all provide a critical reassessment of a field that is strongly characterized by incompatible methodologies, fashions, ideologies, and political convictions. Such a reassessment is necessary to understand the vast body of partly contradictory research results. Competing research camps seem to measure different things using incompatible instruments. The choice of appropriate cohorts is crucial. Moreover, I will report on the results of various case studies (the acquisition of English as an additional language, the use of English as a lingua franca, article usage, subject-verb agreement, tense and aspect, lexical transfer), documenting advantages and disadvantages contingent on the domain of language, language status, the languages involved, and type of bilingualism. Finally, I will offer some speculation regarding how more opportunity for cross-linguistic influence can perhaps translate into heightened language proficiency. On the whole, my presentation will be a warning against foregone conclusions and an invitation to a more thoughtful approach to a highly fascinating field.
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Macquarie University Sydney, 2018
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Articles by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
International Journal of Multilingualism, 2024
A multilingual experience can be considered a significant asset. However, since the earliest stud... more A multilingual experience can be considered a significant asset. However, since the earliest studies in the field, research has reported mixed results regarding potential advantages such as increased cognitive ability and metalinguistic awareness. Moreover, studies investigating the influence of bilingualism/multilingualism on the acquisition of additional languages produced partially conflicting findings. This longitudinal study (three measurement time points within 1.5 years) investigates the impact of social, cognitive, and linguistic variables on English proficiency. We rely on data gathered from 374 unbalanced bilinguals (Russian-/Turkish-German), dominant in German, and 600 monolingual (German) students attending grades seven to ten in Germany. We use multiple linear regression models predicting English proficiency to track longitudinal changes. The results show that German reading proficiency and visual-spatial cognitive ability positively impact L2/L3 English C-test scores. In addition, the impact of heritage language proficiency is not statistically significant and language background did not bring about clear differences between the monolingual and bilingual cohorts per se. We conclude that there are differences between the Turkish-German students and their peers, but not between the monolinguals and Russian-German students. We discuss these findings in light of current teaching approaches prevailing in Germany's foreign language classrooms and perceptions of heritage languages in society.
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International Journal of Multilingualism, 2023
Since the earliest studies on multilingual advantages, it has proved difficult to disentangle lan... more Since the earliest studies on multilingual advantages, it has proved difficult to disentangle language development from general cognition. It remains unclear whether language interdependence is an independent variable or whether observable effects are mediated by cognitive ability. Measurable effects of one language on another typically go hand in hand with differences in cognitive ability. We hypothesize that high cognitive ability produces stronger language interdependence effects than low cognitive ability. We consider this problem in the context of heritage bilingualism in Germany comparing a linguistically mixed cohort of bilingual students (n = 557; i.e., Russian-German, n = 237; Turkish-German, n = 320) with a monolingual German control (n = 852) regarding their proficiencies in the foreign language English. We ask whether the bilingual students manifest an English development that is different from their monolingually socialized peers. We place the students in three different groups depending on their performance in a visual-spatial cognitive ability test. We fit structural equation models to test whether heritage language and German proficiency impact English proficiency differently across these groups while additionally controlling for language background and socio-economic status. Results reveal differences between the high cognitive ability groups, here interpreted as a conditioned bilingualism effect.
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English World-Wide, 2022
The study aims to work towards a diachronic reconstruction of pragmatic particles in Colloquial S... more The study aims to work towards a diachronic reconstruction of pragmatic particles in Colloquial Singapore English (CSE “Singlish”) by exploiting an unused historical data source: The Oral History Interviews held by the National Archives of Singapore (OHI-NAS). We investigate the distribution of five pragmatic particles (ah, lah, leh, lor, and meh) in 101 interviews conducted between 1979 and 2009 in speakers born between 1899 and 1983. Lim (2007) reconstructs the origin of these particles in different substrate languages, with the first two particles (ah and lah) being traceable to earlier Bazaar Malay and/or Hokkien, while the latter three (leh, lor, and meh) are of later Cantonese origin. The results of the present study show that ah and lah are the most frequent particles attested earliest. Their frequency of use increases over time, being additionally contingent on the gender and age of the speakers, their educational level, and their ethnic background. The particles ah and lah are mostly used in assertive contexts.
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Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2022
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Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2022
The United Arab Emirates have long been in contact with English. Its econ- omy requires high rate... more The United Arab Emirates have long been in contact with English. Its econ- omy requires high rates of migration, resulting in large numbers of migrants who impact the local linguistic ecology. English acts as lingua franca and occurs in several forms, as labour is recruited from nations having experi- enced British or American influences. Arabic is used at home by Emiratis and Arab expatriates. However, it faces pressure from English both in education and at home, where shifts towards English occur. This study focusses on the interaction and competition between English and Arabic among university students. Qualitative results from a mixed methods survey suggest that while Arabic gets high solidarity ratings for “cultural identity,” English rates higher for “individual identity.” Status measures tend to align in both languages. Gender and citizenship had little effect, unlike self-assessed proficiency in both languages. Overall, English and Arabic are competitive in some areas, but also complementary.
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Pedagogical Linguistics, 2022
This study investigates the relationship between (extra)linguistic variables and proficiency in a... more This study investigates the relationship between (extra)linguistic variables and proficiency in a foreign language. Based on 1,403 secondary school students in Germany (age 12/13 and 14/15), we assess whether proficiency in German, if applicable also Russian or Turkish, cognitive ability, school type, gender, socio-economic status, self-concept, motivation, and self-assessment function differently in predicting English language proficiency when monolingual German learners of English (n = 849) are compared to their bilingual peers (Russian-German: n = 236; Turkish-German: n = 318). Two comprehensive structural equation models capture the multitude of factors influencing foreign language acquisition and contribute to the discussion on multilingual advantages or effects. The results reveal that most variables are statistically significant, but the models function comparably across the three language groups with only minor contrasts regarding effect sizes. We submit that the three language groups are more similar than different and that the heritage languages Russian and Turkish add comparatively little to predicting English language proficiency.
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Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication , 2021
Foreign language learners frequently use words from their previously acquired language(s) in the ... more Foreign language learners frequently use words from their previously acquired language(s) in the target language, especially if these languages are related (Ringbom, Håkan. 2001. Lexical transfer in L3 production. In Jasone Cenoz, Britta Hufeisen & Ulrike Jessner (eds.), Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives, 59–68. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters). Such insertions are referred to as ‘lexical transfer’, commonly divided into ‘transfer of form’ and ‘transfer of meaning’ (Bardel, Camilla. 2015. Lexical cross-linguistic influence in third language development. In Hagen Peukert (ed.), Transfer effects in multilingual language development, 111–128. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Ringbom, Håkan. 2001. Lexical transfer in L3 production. In Jasone Cenoz, Britta Hufeisen & Ulrike Jessner (eds.), Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives, 59–68. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters). Lexical transfer challenges the monolingual habitus prevailing in foreign language classes which requires students to rely exclusively on the target language and inhibit other influences. Thus, in such English classes, students should avoid the use of different languages and ideally only produce monolingual English output. In this context, the current study investigates the use of lexical transfer instances in short English texts written by bilingual (Russian/Turkish-German) and monolingual (German) secondary school students (initially attending year 7) from a longitudinal perspective. It assesses i) whether the students increasingly adhere to the imposed normative rules and ii) what influence background variables such as language background (mono- vs. bilingual), type of school (higher vs. lower academic track), gender (female vs. male), or age (four measurement points over a period of 2.5 years) exert on the use of lexical transfer instances. Apart from gender, all factors impact lexical transfer in a statistically significant way, evoking different norm-based explanations.
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Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 2021
The current study adds to research investigating the influence of bilingualism on third language ... more The current study adds to research investigating the influence of bilingualism on third language (L3) acquisition, more specifically the assumption that the two previously acquired languages enhance the acquisition of an additional language. We here rely on data from 1,409 bilingual (Russian-/Turkish-German) and monolingual (German) students of grades seven and nine, sampled in schools across Germany. The relevant literature yields mixed and controversial results regarding bilingual advantages, yet it also suggests that L3 acquisition is a multidimensional process potentially affected by various linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Thus, we examine the relationship between English proficiency (L2 or L3), reading comprehension in German and the heritage languages Turkish and Russian along with cognitive ability and socio-economic status by using several multi-group path analyses, a type of structural equation modelling. The proposed structural equation model of English proficiency can be successfully fitted for all participants investigated, i.e. for both the monolingual and bilingual learners, with the exception of the Turkish-German group when analyzed separately. Overall, the results do not suggest any obvious bilingual facilitation effects or general differences across the learner groups, yet minor differences between the monolingual and bilingual groups in various componential relationships are detected.
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Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices, 2020
The study investigates whether English in instructed settings is more successfully acquired by le... more The study investigates whether English in instructed settings is more successfully acquired by learners who are already bilingual in comparison to those with a monolingual background. There remains substantial controversy regarding potential advantages of bilingual speakers in their acquisition of additional languages, especially in heritage speaker contexts. We here contribute to this discussion by analysing the English C-test results of 1,718 bilingual and monolingual students of grades 7 and 9, sampled in schools across Germany. The bilingual students speak either Russian or Turkish (heritage language) and German (majority language). The monolingual control group was raised in German only. The main predictor variables are reading fluency and comprehension in German and the heritage languages. Additional predictor variables include school type, school year, socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, amongst others. Using correlation and regression analyses we test if reading fluency and comprehension impact proficiency in English and if bilingual students enjoy advantages over their monolingual German peers. The results reveal no systematic advantage of bilingual students, although we find significant correlations between reading fluency and comprehension and C-test results. School type, cognitive skills, among others, are predictors for English performance, whereas socioeconomic status returns no significant effect.
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World Englishes, 2020
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed an unprecedented economic and cultural development s... more The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed an unprecedented economic and cultural development since its foundation in 1971. Foreign labor and investment play a central role in this development, yielding a sharp imbalance between the Emirati and the foreign population. A population of no less than 85 per cent of highly transient foreigners strongly impacts the local linguistic landscape, with many languages competing in the public sphere. English occupies a special role in this multilingual texture, as it is used as a foreign language, a second language, and a lingua franca. It occurs in its standardized
varieties, but also in several non-standard forms, as foreign labor is recruited from places formerly under British or American influence. Based on a new questionnaire study of 692 university students, we explore the tension between English and Arabic, the prominence of English, the increasing use of English as a home language, and the emergence of a new variety of English: ‘Gulf English’.
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International Journal of Bilingualism, 2019
Aims and Objectives:
The main objective of this study is to find evidence for the Linguistic Pro... more Aims and Objectives:
The main objective of this study is to find evidence for the Linguistic Proximity Model (Westergaard et al. 2016) which allows for facilitative and non-facilitative cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from all previously known languages in third language (L3) acquisition. We target CLI in L3 English based on bilingual heritage speakers (Russian-German, and Turkish-German) in comparison with L2 acquisition of monolingual German speakers.
Methodology:
We examine the outcome of an English word order test. The participants produced sentences based on randomly ordered words. The focus of this study is the placement of direct and indirect pronominal objects with varying ditransitive verbs.
Data Analysis:
195 students in school years 7 and 9, separated into three language groups, participated in the study: German monolinguals (nG7=47; nG9=64), Russian-German bilinguals (nR7=19; nR9=30), and Turkish-German bilinguals (nT7=19; nT9=16). The placement of pronominal objects in the sentence task is compared to results from equivalent word order tests in English, German, Russian, and Turkish that were repeated with native speakers.
Findings:
We find some support for the Linguistic Proximity Model because the outcome shows that facilitative and non-facilitative CLI is possible from both the heritage language and the majority language. Determining factors are the background languages, the age of the participants, and frequency. However, the majority language German displays the strongest influence of both background languages due to its dominant status.
Originality:
This study provides further support for the Linguistic Proximity Model, by using a sentence completion task with unbalanced bilingual heritage speakers.
Significance/Implications:
We provide evidence for showing that both facilitative and non-facilitative influence from all previously known languages of bilingual heritage speakers is possible and verifiable. We therefore add to the field of L3 acquisition and the discussion about current models of CLI.
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World Englishes, 2018
Singapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and so... more Singapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and sociolinguistic properties of its local variety of English. In contrast, there is comparatively less empirical data on individual linguistic repertoires and usage patterns. Building on previous research into the linguistic and sociological background of young Singaporean adults, our study examines 450 students recruited from three distinct educational institutions: a university, polytechnics, and vocational training schools. A detailed language background questionnaire reveals the degree of multilingualism, patterns of language use, as well as language attitudes towards different languages. The data suggest that the notion of the typically multilingual Singaporean needs to be challenged: bilingualism and trilingualism are more widespread than more multilingual repertoires. Students also report generally positive attitudes towards both English and their mother tongue; attitudes towards the vernacular (Singlish) are also generally positive, as Singlish evidently continues to serve as an important marker of Singaporean identity. We find important differences between the three student cohorts examined here and are able to relate them to their social and ethnic backgrounds.
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Journal of Pragmatics, 2017
Communicative interaction may be conceived of as a give and take of information that partners in ... more Communicative interaction may be conceived of as a give and take of information that partners in conversation assign a value to and track carefully. The social value of information gives rise to a complicated microeconomic system in the sense of Levinson (2012) in which asking for information is associated with social costs that speakers try to minimize. Such a social economic model of communication makes two predictions, namely that asking questions should be generally avoided in conversation and that content questions are less likely to be used than yes-no questions, since the former ask for more substantial information. These predictions are tested based on a sample of 4,108 tokens of interrogative clauses tak-en from the International Corpus of English, British Component, that encode various direct and indirect questions. The data offers support for Levinson's model, as polar interrogatives outnumber constituent interrogatives in both direct and indirect uses, especially in the spoken registers. I offer an explanation for the high number of polar interrogatives in indirect uses and also try to motivate the highly skewed distribution of interrogative words using the social economics of questions. There remain problems, though, since the predicted large proportion of tag questions is not supported by the data.
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Linguistic Typology, Dec 2016
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Folia Linguistica, Jan 1, 2011
In this study we discuss the distribution of gender exponents in Old and early Middle English bas... more In this study we discuss the distribution of gender exponents in Old and early Middle English based on an analysis of two historical documents (Orosius, Peterborough Chronicle). The gender exponents investigated include demonstratives, adjectives, numerals and pronouns. We analyzed 179 noun phrases from the Orosius and 1,090 noun phrases from the Peterborough Chronicle. While the Orosius illustrates a highly consistent distribution of gender exponents, the Peterborough Chronicle contains substantial variation. As for the Peterborough Chronicle, we can demonstrate that the number of gender exponents that is used in conflict to the Old English gender system increases over time. In addition, we investigate the most important factors responsible for the observable variation focusing on the properties of the head nouns and their referents. Our results show that noun phrase internal and noun phrase external gender exponents behave differently. Moreover, formal properties of the head noun (structural and morphological case, number) are better predictors for gender variation than the properties of the referent (abstractness, degree of individuation).
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Linguistics, 2006
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Research by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
Talks by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
Articles by Peter Siemund, Prof. Dr.
varieties, but also in several non-standard forms, as foreign labor is recruited from places formerly under British or American influence. Based on a new questionnaire study of 692 university students, we explore the tension between English and Arabic, the prominence of English, the increasing use of English as a home language, and the emergence of a new variety of English: ‘Gulf English’.
The main objective of this study is to find evidence for the Linguistic Proximity Model (Westergaard et al. 2016) which allows for facilitative and non-facilitative cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from all previously known languages in third language (L3) acquisition. We target CLI in L3 English based on bilingual heritage speakers (Russian-German, and Turkish-German) in comparison with L2 acquisition of monolingual German speakers.
Methodology:
We examine the outcome of an English word order test. The participants produced sentences based on randomly ordered words. The focus of this study is the placement of direct and indirect pronominal objects with varying ditransitive verbs.
Data Analysis:
195 students in school years 7 and 9, separated into three language groups, participated in the study: German monolinguals (nG7=47; nG9=64), Russian-German bilinguals (nR7=19; nR9=30), and Turkish-German bilinguals (nT7=19; nT9=16). The placement of pronominal objects in the sentence task is compared to results from equivalent word order tests in English, German, Russian, and Turkish that were repeated with native speakers.
Findings:
We find some support for the Linguistic Proximity Model because the outcome shows that facilitative and non-facilitative CLI is possible from both the heritage language and the majority language. Determining factors are the background languages, the age of the participants, and frequency. However, the majority language German displays the strongest influence of both background languages due to its dominant status.
Originality:
This study provides further support for the Linguistic Proximity Model, by using a sentence completion task with unbalanced bilingual heritage speakers.
Significance/Implications:
We provide evidence for showing that both facilitative and non-facilitative influence from all previously known languages of bilingual heritage speakers is possible and verifiable. We therefore add to the field of L3 acquisition and the discussion about current models of CLI.
varieties, but also in several non-standard forms, as foreign labor is recruited from places formerly under British or American influence. Based on a new questionnaire study of 692 university students, we explore the tension between English and Arabic, the prominence of English, the increasing use of English as a home language, and the emergence of a new variety of English: ‘Gulf English’.
The main objective of this study is to find evidence for the Linguistic Proximity Model (Westergaard et al. 2016) which allows for facilitative and non-facilitative cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from all previously known languages in third language (L3) acquisition. We target CLI in L3 English based on bilingual heritage speakers (Russian-German, and Turkish-German) in comparison with L2 acquisition of monolingual German speakers.
Methodology:
We examine the outcome of an English word order test. The participants produced sentences based on randomly ordered words. The focus of this study is the placement of direct and indirect pronominal objects with varying ditransitive verbs.
Data Analysis:
195 students in school years 7 and 9, separated into three language groups, participated in the study: German monolinguals (nG7=47; nG9=64), Russian-German bilinguals (nR7=19; nR9=30), and Turkish-German bilinguals (nT7=19; nT9=16). The placement of pronominal objects in the sentence task is compared to results from equivalent word order tests in English, German, Russian, and Turkish that were repeated with native speakers.
Findings:
We find some support for the Linguistic Proximity Model because the outcome shows that facilitative and non-facilitative CLI is possible from both the heritage language and the majority language. Determining factors are the background languages, the age of the participants, and frequency. However, the majority language German displays the strongest influence of both background languages due to its dominant status.
Originality:
This study provides further support for the Linguistic Proximity Model, by using a sentence completion task with unbalanced bilingual heritage speakers.
Significance/Implications:
We provide evidence for showing that both facilitative and non-facilitative influence from all previously known languages of bilingual heritage speakers is possible and verifiable. We therefore add to the field of L3 acquisition and the discussion about current models of CLI.
The present study explores the results of detailed language background questionnaires eliciting the linguistic and sociological background of 300 Singaporean university and polytechnic students. The questionnaires assess not only how many languages a speaker is proficient in, but also when and how they acquired each language, and how often and in which contexts speakers make use of which language. In addition, the questionnaires elicit information on the attitudes that students hold towards their mother tongue, English, and Singlish.
This Research Topic aims at foregrounding the effects that surface from the interplay of Englishes with other languages. The interaction scenarios may differ widely, ranging from remote language contact (e.g. English influence being mediated) to the presence of English in everyday multilingual practices - both individually (as emerging from multilingual minds) and socially (e.g. English impacting on the communal use of other languages). By showcasing current research that investigates different contexts in which Englishes interact with other languages, this Research Topic aims at furthering our understanding of the processes of language contact and multilingualism in various domains of language use, including their social implications for speakers of Englishes and other languages.
The present study explores a sample of 172 learners of English as an additional language who had acquired German in combination with a heritage language (Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese) before they started to learn English. The students were 12 and 16 years old when they were recorded on the basis of picture stories, interviews, and questionnaires. The grammatical phenomenon we are interested in here concerns demonstrative pronouns, which function differently in the languages under consideration in the present context. We consider determinative and identificational uses of demonstratives, but also the subordinating function of the demonstrative that.
Our results show important differences in the usage of demonstratives among the two different age groups and among the three heritage languages involved. We argue that these differences can be interpreted in different ways, cross-linguistic influence being one of them, though this is not necessarily the most important factor. Additional factors include academic performance, register differences (oral versus written), and the age of the students.