Morphological dissociations in the L2 acquisition of an inflectionally rich language

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 107-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Agathopoulou ◽  
Despina Papadopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Native Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Mechanism Model ◽  
Intermediate Learners ◽  
Dual Mechanism ◽  
Degree Of Similarity

This study investigates the validity of Pinker’s (1991, 1999) Dual-Mechanism Model in the mental representation of regular and irregular active past perfective verbs in adult non-native Greek. In this model, regular inflection is computed by a symbolic rule, while irregular words are fully stored in the lexicon. A nonce-probe elicitation task showed that both natives and non-natives generalized the regular affix -s, and more so in regular than in irregular perfective verb stems. Moreover, the degree of similarity of the nonce verbs to real ones did not affect the affixation of regulars. Dissimilar irregulars were affixed less often than similar ones by the intermediate learners but neither by the advanced learners, nor by the natives. Our findings support computation for regulars, as proposed by the Dual Mechanism Model, both in native and in non-native language acquisition. Yet, the model’s claim for full storage of all irregular words is not verified.

scholarly journals An Alternative Approach to Linguistic Theories of Language Acquisition: Focus on The Cognitive Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1488-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosni M. El-Dali
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Comprehension Skill ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Students ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Faculty Of Education

Although linguistics provides a useful perspective on L2 learning, it must be remembered that linguistics is only one of the disciplines that SLA research can draw on.  With this in mind, this study provides a thumbnail sketch of some currently prevalent theories which try to explain how foreign languages are learned.  It, also, spells out some alternatives to the linguistics-based approach to foreign language acquisition research.  More specifically, some limitations of linguistic theories in addressing the role of mental processes in L2 acquisition are identified and recent theoretical developments in cognitive psychology that can be applied to L2 acquisition are outlined. Moreover, this study reports the results of an empirical investigation carried out by the author on 200 Egyptian University students enrolled in the department of English, Faculty of education, Minufiya University. They were divided into two groups according to their academic status: 1) Beginners (N=100); and 2) Advanced learners (N=100). It attempts to answer three interrelated questions: 1) to what extent does the advanced students’ performance in listening tasks differ from that of the beginning students before and after training? 2) how can two types of training (intensive listening vs. improving learners’ linguistic skills) affect L2 learners’ listening comprehension skill?, and 3) what does students’ performance, before and after the training, tell us about their abilities to transfer?  The instruments used are (1) pre-test; (2) classroom instruction sessions; (3) post-test, and (4) interviews. The data analysis has a quantitative and a qualitative, interpretative part.  Results are obtained and discussed, and pedagogical applications are suggested.

scholarly journals Existential quantifiers in second language acquisition

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kook-Hee Gil ◽  
Marsden Heather
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Polarity Item ◽  
Feature Sets ◽  
Feature Reassembly ◽  
Explanatory Account ◽  
Feature Based

Lardiere’s (2005, 2008, 2009) Feature Reassembly Hypothesis proposes that L2 acquisition involves reconfiguring the sets of lexical features that occur in the native language into feature bundles appropriate to the L2. This paper applies the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis to findings from recent research into the L2 acquisition of existential quantifiers. It firstly provides a feature-based, crosslinguistic account of polarity item any in English, and its equivalents — wh-existentials — in Chinese, Korean and Japanese. We then test predictions built on the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis, about how learners map target existential quantifiers in the L2 input onto feature sets from their L1, and how they then reassemble these feature sets to better match the target. The findings, which are largely compatible with the predictions, show that research that focuses on the specific processes of first mapping and then feature reassembly promises to lead to a more explanatory account of development in L2 acquisition.

L2 ACQUISITION AND OBLIGATORY HEAD MOVEMENT

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Luise Beck
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Response Latency ◽  
Head Movement ◽  
Native Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Developmental Context ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
English Speaking

This paper presents results of a response-latency (RL) experiment with English-speaking learners of German that investigated to what extent—if any—two different groups of second language (L2) learners permit raising of the thematic verb. The framework under which the study was conducted involves varying theoretical predictions derived from the native-language (NL) transfer view of Schwartz and Sprouse (1994, 1996), the gradual-development view of Vainikka and Young-Scholten (1994, 1996), the underspecification view of Eubank (1993/1994), and a local-impairment view that presents a more parsimonious solution to the L2 developmental problem than standard “no access” views. The L2 results reported here show that learners respond in different ways to stimulus sentences with raised and unraised verbs depending on the subjects' level of development. Surprisingly, it is the less advanced learners who exhibit an RL preference for apparently raised-verb experimental stimuli; the more advanced learners do not differentiate between raised-verb and unraised-verb stimuli. Analysis of these findings reveals that the less advanced group may only project VPs, consistent with the gradual-development view of Vainikka and Young-Scholten. Crucially, however, the Local Impairment Hypothesis is the only view that is consistent with the results from the more advanced learners, especially when they are seen in developmental context.

Existence and consequences of dormant features: Evidence from L2 acquisition of Chinese object ellipsis

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110662
Author(s):  
Lulu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
Disconfirming Evidence ◽  
L1 English

The current study investigates second language acquisition of Chinese object ellipsis to probe the development of features transferred from learners’ native language without robust confirming or disconfirming evidence in the second language (L2) input. It is argued that Chinese allows object ellipsis licensed by a verb with a [VCase] feature but not by a verb with a [Vnon-Case] feature. In contrast, Korean allows object ellipsis to be licensed by both types of verbs, whilst English prohibits both. An acceptability judgement task was conducted among first language (L1) English and L1 Korean L2 Chinese learners from elementary to advanced levels, with the results showing that the [Vnon-Case] feature was assembled in the Chinese grammars of English and Korean elementary L2 learners; however, it gradually lost its vigour and licensing power for object ellipsis in intermediate L2 grammars and was successfully removed from licensing object ellipsis in advanced L2 grammars. These findings support predictions by Yuan regarding a feature’s dormant status and modify Yuan’s predictions regarding a dormant feature’s consequences.

scholarly journals acquisition of tense-aspect morphology and the regular-irregular debate

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Mechanism Model ◽  
The Past ◽  
Single Mechanism ◽  
Early Use ◽  
Irregular Verbs ◽  
Dual Mechanism ◽  
L1 Acquisition

This paper reviews research on English past-tense acquisition to test the validity of the single mechanism model and the dual mechanism model, focusing on regular-irregular dissociation and semantic bias. Based on the review, it is suggested that in L1 acquisition, both regular and irregular verbs are governed by semantics; that is, early use of past tense forms are restricted to achievement verbs—regular or irregular. In contrast, some L2 acquisition studies show stronger semantic bias for regular past tense forms (e.g., Housen, 2002, Rohde, 1996). It is argued that L1 acquisition of the past-tense morphology can be accounted for more adequately by the single-mechanism model.  

Advanced and intermediate EFL learners’ perceptions and practices of autonomous learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakineh Jafari ◽  
Saeed Ketabi ◽  
Mansoor Tavakoli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Intermediate Learners ◽  
Learning Language

Abstract This study examined Persian intermediate and advanced EFL learners’ perceptions regarding (a) their own and their teachers’ responsibility in learning language autonomously; (b) their decision making ability in learning language autonomously; and (c) their autonomous learning activities inside and outside the classroom. To this end, a questionnaire designed by Chan, Spratt, and Humphrey (2002) was distributed among 67 intermediate and 65 advanced EFL learners. Statistical analysis of students’ answers showed that overall, advanced learners tended to assume more responsibility for their own learning, to perceive themselves to be highly capable of autonomous learning, and to practice more autonomous learning activities compared to the intermediate learners. In addition, data collected through the interviews with some of the participants suggested that learners’ perceptions were greatly affected by their previous educational experiences. Since intermediate learners were not largely engaged in making decisions related to educational materials and activities used in their classrooms, they considered themselves as less responsible for and consequently less capable of choosing learning materials and activities. The findings of the study, along with the pedagogical implications, are discussed.

The Role of Musical Development in Early Language Acquisition

2018 ◽  
pp. 565-591
Author(s):  
Anthony Brandt ◽  
L. Robert Slevc ◽  
Molly Gebrian
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
Language And Music ◽  
Infant Brain

Language and music are readily distinguished by adults, but there is growing evidence that infants first experience speech as a special type of music. By listening to the phonemic inventory and prosodic patterns of their caregivers’ speech, infants learn how their native language is composed, later bootstrapping referential meaning onto this musical framework. Our current understanding of infants’ sensitivities to the musical features of speech, the co-development of musical and linguistic abilities, and shared developmental disorders, supports the view that music and language are deeply entangled in the infant brain and modularity emerges over the course of development. This early entanglement of music and language is crucial to the cultural transmission of language and children’s ability to learn any of the world’s tongues.

scholarly journals The Correlation between Language Acquisition and Language Planning

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Ramlan Ramlan
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Unconscious Learning ◽  
Acquisition Planning

Language acquisition is a process which can take place at any period of one's life. In the sense of first language acquisition, however, it refers to the acquisition (unconscious learning) of one's native language (or languages in the case of bilinguals) during the first 6 or 7 years of one's life (roughly from birth to the time one starts school).Language acquisition planning has a significant correlation to the language acquisition by the students. Because the students’ age in between zero up to five years is the appropriate moment to acquire a certain language.

scholarly journals The second language acquisition: problems and challenges for Georgian Deaf community

2021 ◽  
Vol X (3) ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Tamar Makharoblidze ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
The State ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
State Language

As stated in the title, the paper is devoted to the issue of second language acquisition by Deaf people in Georgia, describing the current situation and the challenges. There are about 2500 Deaf and hard of hearing residents in Georgia. Being the linguistic minority in the country, these people communicate with each-other in the Georgian Sign Language – GESL. The second native language for local Deaf and hard of hearing people is the Georgian spoken language – the State language. In many countries Deaf people are bilingual, while it is hard to consider the local Deaf and hard of hearing people bilingual, as the knowledge of spoken Georgian on the level of a native language among the Deaf residents is not observed. Unfortunately in Georgia there are no studies concerning the second language acquisition for Deaf and hard of hearing people. The main problems are the agrammatism in written communication on the state language and the ignorance of deferent hierarchical levels of spoken Georgian. This short paper offers the key issues for the plan of strategy of spoken Georgian acquisition for local Deaf and hard of hearing residents.

scholarly journals Inflectional Change Patterns in Arabic

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-227
Author(s):  
Maisoun Abu Joudeh ◽  
Sabri Al-Shboul
Keyword(s):  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Verbal Nouns ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Mechanism Model ◽  
Single Mechanism ◽  
Type Frequency ◽  
Schema Model ◽  
Dual Mechanism

Abstract Most approaches to inflectional morphology propose a single-default representation. This research on Jordanian Arabic offers an analysis having more than one default inflection. This is accomplished by showing that unlike previous morphological accounts like the single-mechanism model, dual-mechanism model, and the schema model (cf. Pinker, 1990; Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986; and Bybee, 1985), the current research relies upon the ‘openness’ mechanism to define defaultness. Openness is thus defined as the ability of the inflectional process to accept new forms into a language. The corpus used in this research contains diminutives, verbal nouns, derivatives, and loan words used in JA. Other defining factors are modified in this research, such as regularity (rule-based mechanism) and productivity (type frequency). The findings of this research indicate that there are two possible defaults in Jordanian Arabic ordered in terms of openness: the sound feminine plural and the iambic broken plural. The findings have the implication that a language’s grammar can have a multi-default system.

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