Markedness, Discoursal Modes, and Relative Clause Formation in a Formal and an Informal Context

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pavesi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Informal Context ◽  
English Relative Clauses

Typological markedness has been suggested as a possible explanation or a means of predicting the development of Interlanguage (IL) syntax (Eckman, 1977; Hyltenstam, 1978, 1984; Rutherford, 1982). More specifically, the Accessibility Hierarchy (AH) (Keenan & Comrie, 1977, 1979) has been used to predict the acquisitional order of relative clauses in a second language (Hyltenstam, 1984). No research, however, has been conducted to investigate the possible influence of learning context on relative clause (RC) formation. In this study, English relative clauses were elicited from two groups of Italian learners. The first group was composed of 48 formal learners and the second group of 38 informal learners. It was hypothesized that the order as predicted by the AH would be yielded by both groups with the formal group's IL exhibiting more marked structures than the informal group's. The type of discourse—planned versus unplanned—to which learners were mostly exposed was thought to have an effect on the level of linguistic elaboration achieved.

The Effect of Reading on the Acquisition of English Relative Clauses

1996 ◽  
Vol 113-114 ◽  
pp. 263-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yon Ok Lee ◽  
Stephen D. Krashen ◽  
Barry Gribbons
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
The United States ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
Pleasure Reading ◽  
Formal Study ◽  
Input Hypothesis ◽  
English Relative Clauses

Abstract 49 adult acquirers of English as a second language took two tests probing restrictive relative clause competence. The amount of reported pleasure reading done by subjects were the only significant predictor of both measures. Neither years of formal study nor length of residence in the United States was a significant predictor. These results are consistent with the input hypothesis.

scholarly journals Lexicalized structural priming in second language online sentence comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Wei ◽  
Julie E. Boland ◽  
Jonathan Brennan ◽  
Fang Yuan ◽  
Min Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Chinese Adult ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
L1 And L2

Prior work has shown intriguing differences between first language (L1) and second language (L2) comprehension priming of relative clauses. We investigated English reduced relative clause priming in Chinese adult learners of English. Participants of different education levels read sentences in a self-paced, moving window paradigm. Critical sentences had a temporarily ambiguous reduced relative clause. Across lists, critical sentences were rotated, so that they occurred either as prime or as target, and had either the same or different verb as the critical sentence with which they were paired. Prime/target pairs were separated by several filler sentences, which never contained a relative clause. Mean reading times for the disambiguating region in the target sentences were faster than in the prime sentences, but only in the same-verb condition, not in the different-verb condition. This pattern of results is consistent with L1 comprehension priming research, suggesting that similar lexically specific mechanisms are involved in L1 and L2 comprehension priming of reduced relative clauses. These findings are in line with lexicalist accounts of sentence comprehension (e.g. MacDonald et al., 1994), according to which syntactic information is bound to specific words. In addition, these findings argue against theories that postulate fundamental differences in processing of L1 and L2 (e.g. Clahsen and Felser, 2006a, 2006b).

MOOD SELECTION IN RELATIVE CLAUSES

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Borgonovo ◽  
Joyce Bruhn de Garavito ◽  
Philippe Prévost
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
Specific Pair ◽  
Mood Selection

There is presently a lively debate in second language (L2) acquisition research as to whether (adult) learners can acquire linguistic phenomena located at the interface between syntax and other modules, such as semantics, pragmatics, and lexical semantics, in contrast to phenomena that are purely syntactic in nature. For some researchers, the interface is precisely the place where fossilization occurs and the source of nonconvergence in L2 speakers. In this article we focus on the acquisition of the morphosyntax-semantics interface by examining the acquisition of mood in Spanish relative clauses by native speakers (NSs) of English. In particular, we focus on the contrast illustrated byBusco unas tijeras que corten“I am looking for scissors that cut-subj” versusBusco unas tijeras que cortan“I am looking for scissors that cut-ind.” When the indicative is used, there is a specific pair of scissors that the speaker is looking for. With the subjunctive, any pair of scissors will do, as long as it satisfies the condition expressed by the relative clause; the determiner phrase is nonspecific. In other words, we are dealing not with ungrammaticality, as both moods are possible in these contexts, but rather with differences in interpretation. General results showed that the learners could appropriately select the expected mood. We also saw that performance was not uniform across the various conditions tested. However, variability is not solely a product of L2 acquisition; we show it can be found in NSs as well.

Relative clause preference in learners of Chinese as a second language

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Qiang ◽  
Guo Xiaoyu ◽  
Yao Yiru ◽  
Nicole Müller
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Chinese Subject ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Universal Rule

AbstractIt has been debated whether preference for subject-extracted relative clauses in language processing is a universal rule, with evidence from both first and second language acquisition studies. But very few studies focus on learners of Chinese as a second language. The current research studied Chinese subject/object-extracted relative clauses processing among the learners of Chinese as a second language by a self-paced reading experiment. The results demonstrate a faster and more accurate processing of subject-extracted relative clauses in both subject and object modifying conditions, adding more evidence to the universal preference for the subject-extracted relative clauses. Both Frequency-Based Accounts and Memory-Based Accounts are discussed related to the current findings.

scholarly journals Relative Clauses in Minangkabau, Indonesian, English Languages (Typology Study)

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-198
Author(s):  
Akmal ◽  
Mulyadi
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
English Relative Clauses

Minangkabau and Indonesian languages are an Austronesian. In this study, it was focused on the typology study of three different languages, namely: Minangkabau, Indonesian, and English relative clauses. It aimed to find out the differences and the similarities of relative clauses among the three languages. This paper also outlines the Accessibility Hierarchy approach to the facts that describe building on relative clause construction. The data was taken from some conversations with Minangkabaunese friends and feedback from the writer as a native speaker of the language in the analysis as well as taking the findings of recent typological and theoretical studies of Austronesian languages into consideration. From the analysis, it is found that Minangkabau and Indonesian languages are same contsruction and the english is different between Minangkabau and Indonesian languages. In the English, it is also possible to have object focus which called object fronting.  

Relative Clauses in English conversation

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Fox ◽  
Sandra A. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
English Relative Clauses

This paper is a usage-based study of the grammar of that set of English Relative Clauses with which a relativizer has been described as optional. We argue that the regularities in the use of relativizers in English can be seen as systematically arising from pragmatic-prosodic factors, creating frequency effects, resulting in some cases highly grammaticized formats: the more the Main Clause and the Relative Clause are integrated with each other, that is, approach monoclausal status, the more likely we are to find no relativizer used; conversely, the more separate the two clauses are, the more likely we are to find an overt relativizer. These findings have led us to suggest that the more monoclausal combinations have become unitary storage and processing chunks. We thus see these findings as a contribution not only to our understanding of Relative Clauses, but to our understanding of syntactic organization in general and of the nature of the grammatical practices in which speakers engage in everyday interactions.

scholarly journals Acquisition of Zero Relative Clauses in English by Adult Turkish Learners of English

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eser Ordem
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Turkish Language

Studies on acquisition of relative clauses by first and second language learners have evoked considerable interest in recent decades. In line with such studies, in this present study we aim to show the possible effect of first language (Turkish) on second language (English) in zero relative clause constructions. English uses certain stranded prepositions in zero relative clauses, whereas Turkish uses the same suffix in non-subject relative clause constructions. This observation in two typologically different languages led the study to claim that Turkish word order in non-subject relative clauses affects the acquisition of zero relative clauses in English. Fifty sentences in Turkish were prepared and composed of five categories. Each category consisted of ten sentences. Each category referred to one of the five cases in Turkish. These cases were accusative, locative, ablative, dative and instrumental. The participants (N=91) were asked to translate these Turkish sentences into English. The results showed that the participants tended to omit prepositions in English zero relative clauses except the construction that did not entail any preposition. Therefore, the study implies that Turkish language learners may be under the effect of their mother tongue while producing zero relative clauses in English.

scholarly journals Revisiting the system of English relative clauses: structure, semantics, discourse functionality

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-456
Author(s):  
FRANCIS CORNISH
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Relative Degree ◽  
Language System ◽  
Respective Contribution ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Restrictive Relatives ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
English Relative Clauses

The goal of this article is to uncover the system underlying three types of English relative clauses, and to characterise their distinctive uses in discourse: NP-integrated ones, namely restrictive and ‘a-restrictive’ relative clauses, and non-integrated ones, represented by non-restrictive relatives.The area at issue is central, since understanding the functioning of these constructions requires reference to the fundamental interface between grammar (language system) and discourse (language use). The discourse functions of the three subtypes of relatives are claimed to be underlain by their intrinsic morphosyntactic and semantic properties. A major aim is to highlight the relative degree of ‘communicative dynamism’ of each subtype of relative clause, in terms of its respective contribution to the construction of discourse.In doing so, the article focuses on the distinctive properties of presupposed as well as non-presupposed restrictive relatives, and of definite as well as indefinite NPs containing integrated relatives more generally. Along the way, it critically examines certain controversial conceptions of the structural and functional features of the constructions at issue, and, in particular, the claim that there is no essential distinction to be drawn between ‘integrated’ and phrase-external relative clause subtypes at all.

scholarly journals Promoting EFL students’ accuracy and fluency through interactive practice activities

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-395
Author(s):  
Kim McDonough ◽  
Masatoshi Sato
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
English Relative Clauses

This study examined the effectiveness of interactive activities at facilitating EFL students’ production of English relative clauses. Thirty-seven EFL learners in Chile carried out interactive activities designed to elicit relative clauses. Pre- and posttests were used to examine whether carrying out the activities facilitated the students’ production of relative clauses. All interactions were audio-recorded and the transcripts were analyzed to determine how accurately and fluently the students produced relative clauses before, during, and after the practice activities. Whereas accuracy was defined as errors involving relative clause formation, fluency was operationalized in terms of the number of pauses, false starts, and self-corrections that occurred within relative clauses. The results showed that the students produced significantly more accurate relative clauses on the posttest; however, their production of dysfluencies remained unchanged. Implications for the use of interactive activities are discussed.   

A corpus-based validation study of the universal processing hypothesis in English relative clause formation

2005 ◽  
Vol 149-150 ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito ◽  
Junko Yamashita
Keyword(s):  
Computer Program ◽  
Validation Study ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Valid Predictor ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
British National Corpus ◽  
National Corpus ◽  
English Relative Clauses

The present study focuses on spoken and written data in the British National Corpus (BNC). Based on a review of recent studies on English relative clauses, we formulated a Universal Processing Hypothesis (OS >OO>SS> SO) as target hypothesis to be validated using a corpus data approach. A computer program was designed to calculate the frequency of appearance of the four types of relative clauses (OS, OO, SS, and SO). The results indicated this hypothesis to be a valid predictor of frequency of appearance of relative clauses in the domain for written corpus texts. However, it is not supported in context-governed spoken material. Limitations of the present investigation and the direction of future research are also discussed.

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