New JESLA article: Brown (2024)

Since Cook’s (1992, 2016) initial conceptualization of multi-competence, research has attempted to characterize the L1 side of multi-competence (Cook, 2003). However, little is known about the developmental trajectory of the multi-competent L1 across L2 proficiencies (Aveledo & Athanasopoulos, 2016), with mixed findings especially among adults (Aveledo & Athanasopoulos, 2023; Munoz & Cadierno, 2019), and the limited available research is generally restricted to multi-competent speakers in immersive L2 contexts. Adopting a pseudo-longitudinal design, this study examined the development of multi-competence in a comparatively conservative context: among lower L2 proficiencies without L2 immersion. Utilizing Talmy’s (2000) well-known distinction between verb- and satellite-framed languages, this study targeted Path expression in mono- and multi-competent English and Japanese, at CEFR-A2-B2 levels of L2 English proficiency, among adults still resident in the L1 Japanese community. Extending prior work (Brown & Gullberg, 2010, 2011), analyses of narrative descriptions of four motion events focused on lexical inventories of Path verbs and adverbials, frequencies of inclusion of Path, use of Path verbs, adverbials, and expressions overall, and specification of Source, Trajectory, and Goal Paths. Evidence of distinctions between mono- and multi-competent patterns was found in almost every analysis, with results suggesting effects of L2 proficiency both in multi-competent L2 and in multi-competent L1 performance. Overall, findings illustrate a dynamic “eco-system of mutual interdependence” (Cook, 2016, p. 7) of the L1 and L2 in multi-competent language users.