Transfer (or lack thereof) and the accusative case in L2 Polish

This paper discusses the role of transfer in the L2 acquisition of the Polish accusative case by speakers of closely related languages (as L1 or L2). Although Slavic languages have been somewhat neglected so far in terms of empirical SLA research, the majority of L2 Polish learners in present-day Poland are indeed speakers of Slavic languages, which makes this language family a privileged research ground for matters related to transfer. Following a review of the theoretical approaches deemed most relevant for the analysis (mainly Processability Theory and the Learner Variety Approach), the paper presents three empirical studies conducted by the author. The discussion will compare transfer-based accounts of the interlanguage structure to explanations relying on universal acquisition principles.