Cross-linguistic influence at lexical level. A study with Moroccan learners of Portuguese as an L3/LN

Abstract

Since the beginning of the century we have been assisting to an increasing interest in multilingualism and, therefore, a spread in the research about a third or an additional language acquisition process. Some of the published studies highlight the differences between the acquisition of an L2 and an L3 and bring about a new research area. In this context, the aim of this article is to present a study about the lexical acquisition of Portuguese as an L3/Ln by Moroccan university students, who are already inserted in a multilingual context. The importance of transfer from a previously acquired second language to the new interlanguage and the factors that influence this transfer will be pointed out in the above mentioned study, whose findings show us that the L1 does not always have a prevailing role in the multilingual acquisition, especially in lexicon.