Do proficient second language learners agree like natives?
Manuel Carreiras, Margaret Gillon-Dowens, Horacio Barber & Moises Betancort Two of the most influential factors in determining the nature and characteristics of second-language processing are age of acquisition and level of proficiency. Another open question is whether similarities between L1 and the L2 influence bilingual processing. In that sense, one interesting question is whether the presence of a particular syntactic feature in the L1 allows late learners to more easily acquire this in the L2 and so be able to process this feature in a similar way to that of their first language. We examined both of these questions by selecting a group of late English-speaking bilinguals who were first exposed to their L2 (Spanish) after puberty but who have been immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment for an average of 20 years and are thus highly proficient in the L2. We investigated how these late but highly competent bilinguals process morphosyntactic features of Spanish that coincide or n
