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<p>Does first language (L1) word order affect the processing of non-canonical but grammatical syntactic structures in second language (L2) comprehension? In the present study, we test whether L1-Spanish speakers of L2-Basque process subject–verb–object (SVO) and object–verb–subject (OVS) non-canonical word order sentences of Basque in the same way as Basque native speakers. Crucially, while OVS orders are non-canonical in both Spanish and Basque, SVO is non-canonical in Basque but is the canonical word order in Spanish. Our electrophysiological results showed that the characteristics of L1 affect the processing of the L2 even at highly proficient and early-acquired bilingual populations. Specifically, in the non-native group, we observed a left anterior negativity-like component when comparing S and O at sentence initial position and a P600 when comparing those elements at sentence final position. Those results are similar of those reported by Casado et al. (2005) for native speakers of Spanish indicating that L2-Basque speakers rely in their L1-Spanish when processing SVO–OVS word order sentences. Our results favored the competition model (MacWhinney, 1997).</p

The Challenge of a Bilingual Society in the Basque Country

Of the non-Indo-European languages that survive in Europe, only one of these is in the western half of the continent—Euskara (the Basque language). It is, according to every study and despite the fact that the oldest testimonies in Euskara are only two thousand years old, a language that was used in the region prior to the invasions of Indo-European peoples with other cultures and other languages six thousand years ago. The Basque language, spoken by half a million people, is not related to any other language in the world. While it has constantly been challenged by its upstart linguistic neighbors, most notably French and Spanish, this language has survived through the centuries. However, it has only been quite recently—and only in one part of the Basque Country—that Basque has received the stable recognition of being a coofficial language recognized by the public administration. In the space of a few years, Euskara went from being a language spoken mostly in rural areas to being used in the media, at university, and in the offices of the Basque government. In the current work we present some of the features that characterize this modern bilingual society and investigate this new situation in Basque history: a history that, for good or bad, is still being written by its protagonists—the inhabitants of the Basque Country, something that is quite unusual in the history of languages.This book was published with generous financial support from the Basque Government.Introduction ? 1. A Nation in Search of a Name: Cultural Realities, Political Projects, and Terminological Struggles in the Basque Country by Ludger Mees ? 2. The Legal System of a Bilingual Society by Alberto López Basaguren ? 3. Basque and Romance Languages: Languages with Different Structures by Igone Zabala and Itziar San Martin ? 4. A Small Country, a Small Language, Many Dialects and Accents by Jesus Mari Makazaga ? 5. The Search for a Common Code by Pello Salaburu and Xabier Alberdi ? 6. The Current Situation of the Basque Language: Speakers by Miren Azkarate Villar ? 7. Linguistic School Models in the Basque Country by Julian Maia ? 8. The Basque Language in the Minds of Native and Nonnative Bilinguals by Itziar Laka, Mikel Santsteban, Kepa Erdocia, and Adam Zawiszewski ? 9. Current Basque Literature by Jon Kortazar ? References ? Index ? List of Contributor