Implicit L1 Negative Transfer and Immediate Self-Correction: A Case Study of Common Mistakes in Unmonitored Contexts from Highly Proficient L2 English Speakers Across L1 Backgrounds

Implicit L1 Negative Transfer in Unmonitored Contexts: A Cross-L1 (Mandarin vs. Sinhala) Study of Common Additive Negation Mistakes and Immediate Self-Correction Among Highly Proficient L2 English Speakers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Implicit L1 Negative Transfer in Unmonitored Contexts: A Cross-L1 (Mandarin vs. Sinhala) Study of Common Additive Negation Mistakes and Immediate Self-Correction Among Highly Proficient L2 English Speakers Wang Dingquan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8150765/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Existing research in second language acquisition (SLA) largely contends that L1 negative transfer diminishes with increasing of L2 proficiency and has predominantly focused on formal contexts of learners with intermediate to lower proficiency. Insufficient attention has been paid to the implicit transfer and immediate self-correction among highly proficient L2 English users in unmonitored settings, particularly regarding common features across non-cognate L1 backgrounds. This study examines highly proficient L2 English users with Mandarin and Sinhala L1s via six-month participatory observation and recording, collecting thirteen typical samples of their informal conversations. Focusing on the recurrent mistake patterns in expressing "additive negation" (i.e., *"I also don’t..." and "*I also can’t...") and rapid self-correction, and drawing on six key SLA theories, this paper finds that such implicit transfer stems from the shared L1 word order features in additive negation and the disconnection between explicit grammatical knowledge and implicit L1 thinking habits. This study contributes to filling the gap in understanding shared mistakes among highly proficient L2 English speakers from distinct L1 backgrounds in unmonitored production, offering empirical insights into the development of implicit competence in L2 English acquisition. Linguistics Educational Psychology Highly proficient L2 English users Unmonitored contexts Additive negation Immediate self-correction Across L1 backgrounds L1 negative transfer Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8150765","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589039431,"identity":"9926d6f9-7a5b-42f1-9f42-adeba81cddba","order_by":0,"name":"Wang Dingquan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCRDBw1Ajx8/efPjBBwMbOWK1HDOW7DmWZjijIM2YWC3MiQY3chSkeT4cTiSoRbK995jEmzK2BKAWBmMbA+YEBvbDRzfg0yLNcy5Ncs45mTzJM28PPM4xYMtj4ElLu4FPi5xEjtlt3ja2Yr7jeQnGOQY8xQwSPGb4tci/AWlhTmw4kGMgbWEgkdhASIs0UAFYy4QTQC0MBgaEtUj25Jj/nHMOGsg9BgnGbIT8InH8jLHBmzJoVP748x/IOHwMrxYIYMPBJlLLKBgFo2AUjAJ0AACvCEqiQ8YJswAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8783-912X","institution":"Faculty of Education, University of Colombo","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wang","middleName":"","lastName":"Dingquan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-19 04:38:13","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8150765/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8150765/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103050331,"identity":"b512526a-64c5-4cf0-bc1a-bc17b5e3a4c2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-20 07:49:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":357032,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ImplicitL1NegativeTransferinUnmonitoredContexts.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8150765/v2_covered_383ba144-2121-4425-bec6-450c79ffa80b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImplicit L1 Negative Transfer in Unmonitored Contexts: A Cross-L1 (Mandarin vs. Sinhala) Study of Common Additive Negation Mistakes and Immediate Self-Correction Among Highly Proficient L2 English Speakers\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Highly proficient L2 English users, Unmonitored contexts, Additive negation, Immediate self-correction, Across L1 backgrounds, L1 negative transfer","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8150765/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8150765/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eExisting research in second language acquisition (SLA) largely contends that L1 negative transfer diminishes with increasing of L2 proficiency and has predominantly focused on formal contexts of learners with intermediate to lower proficiency. 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