The type of task as a factor of cross-linguistic influence in Spanish as a third or additional language acquisition process

Abstract

This article examines the role that the type of task can exert as cross-linguistic influence factor at the lexical level in the Spanish acquisition process of multilingual learners. The study was based on the analysis of errors from an oral corpus structured around two types of oral interaction and expression tasks: a colloquium and an interview, with and without previous preparation. The selection of these two tasks was determined by the degree of formality and informality, the complexity of the task and the availability of time in the preparation of the speeches. The findings show that between one or another task type, there are variations with respect to the total balance of lexical errors, the type of lexical error, the source language of the error, but not so much in the type of interlinguistic error. This allows to conclude that the type of task or discourse determines the appearance of errors due to interlinguistic influence; therefore, it could be considered as a factor of interlinguistic influence and possible cause of its appearance.