An empirical study of the classifier effect in advanced L2 users of Chinese

2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692094330
Author(s):  
Sanmao Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Real World ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Correct Recall ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Classifier System ◽  
Two Measures

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This article examines the classifier effect on categorization among advanced Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners. More specifically, it aims to answer this question: Is non-classifier language speakers’ categorization of objects influenced by the acquisition of the Chinese classifier system? Design/methodology/approach, data and analysis: Native Chinese speakers, advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were asked to rate the relatedness of drawing pairs based on either classifier or taxonomy/theme; advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were then asked to immediately recall two lists of nouns, one associated with three taxonomic categories and the other with three classifiers. Repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to examine the major effect between drawing relations (classifier related, taxonomically/thematically related and unrelated) and participant groups. Two measures of NCR (number of correct recall) and RR (ratio of repetition) were calculated and analysed to examine effective memory retrieval as well as subjective clustering. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that preferences for classifier-based and taxonomy/theme -based categorizations differed between advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants. CSL learners’ knowledge of the classifier system also facilitated their performance in recalling and clustering objects. The findings revealed that concepts in bilingual minds may be language-specific and an alternative interpretation of the real world is internalized by learning a new language. Originality: Unlike previous studies, this article extended the examination of the cognitive consequences of classifiers to late bilinguals whose second language (L2) proficiency was formally assessed. Significance/implications: This study contributes empirical data supporting the importance of nonverbal behavioural evidence in the study of bilingual cognition. The degree and nature of the restructuring of real-world referents as a consequence of acquiring Chinese classifiers is of pedagogical value to second-language acquisition (SLA).

scholarly journals Subjacency Violations in Second Language Acquisition: Some Evidence from Chinese Mandarin Speakers of L2 English

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Xia Dai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

The literature review shows that many previous studies have used Subjacency to test the availability of UniversalGrammar (UG) in second language acquisition. Schachter (1989) claimed that L2 learners do not have access to UGprinciples, while Hawkins and Chan (1997) suggested that L2 learners had partial availability of UG, for they foundthere was a strong difference between the elementary L2 learners and the advanced L2 learners in judging theungrammaticality of Subjacency violations; that is, the elementary L2 learners owned the highest accuracy. Underthe hypothesis of partially availability of UG in second language acquisition, L2 learners are only able to acquire theproperties instantiated in their L1s. Although they may accept violations of universal constraints, it is only at facevalue; rather the L2 learners develop different syntactic representations from the native speakers. This study has beenundertaken as a follow-up study of Hawkins and Chan (1997), and tested on L1 Mandarin speakers of L2 English injudging the grammaticality of their Subjacency violations. The results of the Grammaticality Judgement Test showthat the accuracy of Chinese speakers in judgement increased with English proficiency and that they rejectedresumptives inside islands as a repair. Contrary to the previous findings, this study provides evidence that UG isavailable in adult second language acquisition.

The structure of age: in search of barriers to second language acquisition

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Bialystok
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Insufficient Evidence ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
Processing Differences

The article examines recent evidence that has been offered to support the notion of a sensitive period for second language acquisition. An analysis of that research leaves several questions unresolved. Two small-scale studies are described which attempt to explore some of these issues. In both cases, it is found that the correspondence between language structures in the first and second language is the most important factor affecting acquisition. The age at which second language acquisitions begins is not a significant factor in either study, but the length of residence, indicating the amount of time spent speaking the second language, is significant in the second study. The conclusion is that there is insufficient evidence to accept the claim that mastery of a second language is determined wholly, or even primarily, by maturational factors. Some suggestions are made for an alternative interpretation based on processing differences between older and younger language learners.

Accounting for the asymmetrical interpretation of thematic and non-thematic verbs in L2 English

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-353
Author(s):  
Stano Kong
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Language Research ◽  
L2 Development

Abstract This study presents data from an experiment on the interpretation of thematic and non-thematic verbs in second language (L2) English by three groups of adult native Chinese speakers and a group of native English speakers. English allows non-thematic verbs to raise but requires thematic verbs to remain in-situ. In contrast, neither thematic nor non-thematic verbs are allowed to raise in Chinese. The results indicate that there is a discrepancy between native and non-native mental representations of the grammars concerned; whereas native grammars require English thematic verbs to remain in-situ but allow non-thematic verbs to raise, neither thematic nor non-thematic verbs are allowed to raise in learners L2 English grammars. Results of the study argue against the Valueless Features Hypothesis (Eubank 1993/94. On the transfer of parametric values in L2 development. Language Acquisition 3. 183–208, 1994. Optionality and the initial state in L2 development. In T. Hoekstra & B. Schwartz (eds), Language acquisition studies in generative grammar: Papers in Honour of Kenneth Wexler from the 1991 GLOW Workshop, 369–388. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1996. Negation in early German-English interlanguage: More valueless features in the L2 initial state. Second Language Research 12. 73–106.), which posits that the L1 syntactic features of INFL are initially inert and are not transferred. Instead, the results support the Interpretability Hypothesis (Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou 2007. The interpretability hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 23. 215–242.), which argues for the inaccessibility of uninterpretable syntactic features beyond a critical period. In particular, it is argued that uninterpretable syntactic features not selected during early stages of primary language acquisition become inaccessible in subsequent language acquisition. The results suggest that there may be cases where apparent target-like performance conceals non-target-like underlying competence.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 165-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Larsen-Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Real World ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
The Future ◽  
To Come ◽  
Do So

Just as applied linguistics (AL) may be said to be an emerging discipline, so too is one of its sub-fields, second language acquisition (SLA). The parallelism may not be surprising; after all, a difference of only about twenty years separates the points at which the two were identified as autonomous fields of inquiry. Then, too, the two share central defining concepts. AL draws on multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical perspectives to address real-world issues and problems in which language is central (Brumfit 1997). SLA draws on multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical perspectives to address the specific issue of how people acquire a second language and the specific problem of why everyone does not do so successfully. Furthermore, the two share something else: At this juncture in the evolution of AL and SLA, both are grappling with fundamental definitional issues, ones even extending to the nature of language itself. (See Larsen-Freeman 1997a for how this is true of AL.) Should AL and SLA deal successfully with these challenges, both will have much to contribute in the decade to come. Should they instead succumb to internecine feuding and fragmentation, the future will not be as bright.

scholarly journals Investigating the Gap between L2 Grammar Textbooks and Authentic Speech: Corpus-Based Comparisons of Reported Speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Kevin Cancellaro
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Real World ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
American English ◽  
Reported Speech ◽  
Speech Corpus ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
L2 Learners

Corpus Linguistics (CL) has made significant inroads into the field of second language acquisition (SLA) and pedagogy. As more corpora have become available, researchers and teachers alike have begun to realize the importance of empirically testing ideas that have long been taken for granted and accepted as fact. This is especially true for grammar textbooks written for second language (L2) learners. Do the textbooks that are being used reflect real world grammatical usage? The current study is the first of two in which three corpora were used to examine real world usage of reported speech (RS) as compared to typical presentations of RS in popular L2 grammar U.S. textbooks as they existed in and up to the year 2007. Results show that indirect reported speech (IRS), direct reported speech (DRS) and alternative forms of RS constructions in combination are not only frequent in spoken English but also dependent on register and context. Further, simplifying RS explanations in terms of backshifing with the use of a past tense main reporting verb may be providing inaccurate information to L2 learners of American English. Results generally support, with some exceptions, the findings in previous studies which employed corpus-based analysis to study the relevance of EFL/ESL textbooks (Al-Wossabi, 2014; Barbieri & Eckhardt, 2007; Khojasteh &Shakrpour, 2014; Šegedin, 2008). A forthcoming study will examine new corpora and revised textbooks to measure the degree of change that has occurred since 2007, thereby seeking to replicate the results of a more general review on the same topic done by Khojasteh and Shakrpour (2014).

scholarly journals Understanding the Process of Second Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Yixu Ding
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Regional Language

As the world is becoming more and more connected, the education system needs to provide each learner with an equal opportunity for success. Measures should put in place to ensure that obtaining an education is made possible for all students, including foreign students, such as English speakers in China and Chinese speakers in the United Kingdom. The biggest obstacle to making this dream a reality is that very few educators are sufficiently equipped to understand the foundational knowledge with regards to teaching learners of speaking a different language from the regional language, raising the need for target language acquisition. This paper will look into the Acculturation model of second language acquisition and Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition. Since educators are increasingly being forced to teach students speaking foreign languages understanding second language acquisition is very important. Understanding the process of second language acquisition may be important to educators and enable students in second language acquisition.

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