Markedness, operator movement and discourse effects in the acquisition of purpose clause constructions in a second language

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-33
Author(s):  
Malcolm A. Finney
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Additional Hypothesis ◽  
Late Emergence ◽  
Initial Learning ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Prepositional Object ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
Matrix Verb ◽  
Operator Movement

This article appraises the effects of gap position and discourse information in the acquisition of purpose clause constructions (PCs) by adult Francophones learning English as L2. L1 acquisition studies reveal children having little difficulty interpreting a PC with a subject gap only (SPC) while a PC with an object gap (OPC) has been problematic to interpret. This may be the result of the number of syntactic operations–including operator movement–involved in its derivation plus lexically specified restrictions on the matrix verb. There are grounds for hypothesizing a late emergence of OPCs in English for French speakers. They are not allowed in French and, in addition to lexical restrictions associated with the choice of matrix verb, are marked semantically and typologically; an OPC with a prepositional object gap is additionally syntactically marked. This may thus result in the late acquisition of OPCs relative to SPCs. An additional hypothesis addresses whether L2 learners are adept at using discourse clues to interpret syntactic structure. Results indicate initial difficulty interpreting only PCs with prepositional object gaps, providing support for the hypothesis that syntactically (structurally) marked constructions may create initial learning difficulty in L2 acquisition.

Innovations in second language research methods

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 221-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Gass
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Acceptability Judgments ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Acceptance of the claims made by researchers in any field depends in large part on the appropriateness of the methods used to gather data. In this chapter I focus on two approaches to research in second language acquisition: (a) various types of acceptability judgments or probes aimed at assessing acquisition of syntactic structure; and (b) various types of stimulated recall designed to gather learners' accounts of their own thought processes. Both methods attempt to overcome a principal problem in psycholinguistics: the desire to describe a learner's knowledge about a language based on the incomplete evidence stemming from learner production. Refinements in acceptability judgments have come from some newer multiple-choice or truth-value story tasks that allow researchers to determine the level of learner knowledge about particular syntactic structures (in the examples here, reflexives). Stimulated recall offers some additional perspectives, but its usefulness can be greatly affected by the temporal proximity of the recall to the original task; the amount of support provided to prompt the recall; and the nature and amount of training given to both interviewer and interviewee. While these newer research methods can improve the accuracy and variety of data available to SLA investigators, research methods drawn from L1 acquisition or L1 research cannot necessarily be assumed to be equally valid when used to examine L2 acquisition.

'Novel unaccusatives'

2002 ◽  
Vol 135-136 ◽  
pp. 97-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZhaoHong Han
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Explanatory Account ◽  
The Creation ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Abstract Interlanguage 'novel unaccusative' (term borrowed from BALCOM 1997) has been a subject of investigation since the late 1970s, though it has usually been discussed under the terms of an interlanguage syntactic structure called the 'pseudo-passive' (e.g., SCHACHTER & RUTHERFORD 1979; RUTHERFORD 1983; YIP 1995; HAN 2000). While most of the research to date is in favor of the view that the interlanguage structure is primarily induced by L1 discourse/syntactic influence, BALCOM (1997) provides an alternative explanatory account. Assuming a lexical perspective, she sees the interlanguage structure as the creation of a 'novel unaccusative' through a lexical process of detransitivization. In this paper, I shall discuss Balcom's view, in particular, her contention that interlanguage novel unaccusatives and native-like unaccusatives with transitive counterparts share the same underlying lexical process of detransitivization. Drawing on both natural longitudinal data and elicited data (HAN 1998), I will show that Balcom's view would be over-generalizing if applied across language acquisition contexts. What renders the application problematic is the fact that while some novel unaccusatives from L2 acquisition may derive from the lexical process of detransitivization as in L1 acquisition, some do not. It seems imperative to me that in the context of SLA, we discriminate, at least in loose terms, between developmental and L1-induced novel unaccusatives. Such a distinction is important not only because it helps to refine our understanding of what underlies novel unaccusatives in L2 acquisition, but also because it would lend more accurate guidance to L2 teachers in dealing with novel unaccusatives in the classroom.

scholarly journals The early stages in adult L2 syntax: additional evidence from Romance speakers

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Vainikka ◽  
Martha Young-Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Weak Continuity ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Verb Raising ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Vainikka and Young-Scholten (1994) propose an analysis of the acquisition of German by adult Korean and Turkish speakers based on the Weak Continuity account of L1 acquisition. They claim that L2 acquisition initially involves a bare VP whose (final) headedness is transferred from the learner's L1, with functional projections evolving entirely on the basis of the interaction of X'- Theory with the input. In this article, we extend this account to data from Italian and Spanish speakers learning German. Our analysis reveals that these learners initially posit a bare VP whose (initial) headedness is transferred from their native languages but, while still at the bare VP stage, they adopt the head-final VP of German. At this bare VP stage the morphological elements incompatible with the VP are not attested (e.g., auxiliary verbs, verbs marked for agreement and obligatory subjects). At the next stage of acquisition, simi lar to what Vainikka and Young-Scholten observed for the Korean and Turkish speakers, the Italian and Spanish speakers posit a head-initial func tional projection. This projection further resembles the first functional projec tion observed in the acquisition of German by children (Clahsen, 1991) and involves optional verb-raising and the emergence of elements which typically appear in INFL (auxiliaries, modals) and in Spec (IP) (obligatory subjects). We conclude that child L1 learners and adult L2 learners build up syntactic structure in much the same manner and propose that the Weak Continuity approach accounts for all instances of syntactic acquisition.

scholarly journals Priming Effect on Automatisation of L2 Prepositional-Phrase Processing Ability

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Hiroki Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Matrix Verb

<p><em>Most L2 learners cannot process a second language as native speakers do because of their less automatic syntactic processing ability. In this article, the author reports two experiments that used a word-by-word self-paced reading task to examine how Japanese language learners of English process English prepositional phrases. The study also examined whether these learners could improve their syntactic processing ability, using the priming method. The research findings showed that while L2 learners had more difficulty processing a prepositional phrase when it modified the noun of the matrix verb than modified the verb, they were able to overcome that difficulty with appropriate primes. The research findings indicated that L2 learners were able to improve their syntactic processing ability if they encountered the same syntactic structure repeatedly.</em><em></em></p>

‘I me Mine’ The Acquisition of Dutch Pronominal Possessives by L1 Children, L2 Children and L2 Adults

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 23-52
Author(s):  
Elma Nap-Kolhoff ◽  
Peter Broeder
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Young Children ◽  
First Language ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Abstract This study compares pronominal possessive constructions in Dutch first language (L1) acquisition, second language (L2) acquisition by young children, and untutored L2 acquisition by adults. The L2 learners all have Turkish as L1. In longitudinal spontaneous speech data for four L1 learners, seven child L2 learners, and two adult learners, remarkable differences and similarities between the three learner groups were found. In some respects, the child L2 learners develop in a way that is similar to child L1 learners, for instance in the kind of overgeneralisations that they make. However, the child L2 learners also behave like adult L2 learners; i.e., in the pace of the acquisition process, the frequency and persistence of non-target constructions, and the difficulty in acquiring reduced pronouns. The similarities between the child and adult L2 learners are remarkable, because the child L2 learners were only two years old when they started learning Dutch. L2 acquisition before the age of three is often considered to be similar to L1 acquisition. The findings might be attributable to the relatively small amount of Dutch language input the L2 children received.

scholarly journals DOMAIN-GENERAL AUDITORY PROCESSING EXPLAINS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF L2 ACQUISITION IN ADULTHOOD

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Kazuya Saito ◽  
Hui Sun ◽  
Magdalena Kachlicka ◽  
John Robert Carvajal Alayo ◽  
Tatsuya Nakata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
Proficiency Scores ◽  
L1 Acquisition

ABSTRACT In this study, we propose a hypothesis that domain-general auditory processing, a perceptual anchor of L1 acquisition, can serve as the foundation of successful post-pubertal L2 learning. This hypothesis was tested with 139 post-pubertal L2 immersion learners by linking individual differences in auditory discrimination across multiple acoustic dimensions to the segmental, prosodic, lexical, and morphosyntactic dimensions of L2 proficiency. Overall, auditory processing was a primary determinant of a range of participants’ proficiency scores, even after biographical factors (experience, age) were controlled for. The link between audition and proficiency was especially clear for L2 learners who had passed beyond the initial phase of immersion (length of residence > 1 year). The findings suggest that greater auditory processing skill benefits post-pubertal L2 learners immersed in naturalistic settings for a sufficient period of time by allowing them to better utilize received input, which results in greater language gains and leads to more advanced L2 proficiency in the long run (similar to L1 acquisition).

Assessing Differences and Similarities between Instructed Heritage Language Learners and L2 Learners in Their Knowledge of Spanish Tense-Aspect and Mood (TAM) Morphology

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Silvia Perpiñán
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Classic Problem ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 Acquisition

The acquisition of the aspectual difference between the preterit and imperfect in the past tense and the acquisition of the contrast between subjunctive and indicative mood are classic problem areas in second language (L2) acquisition of Spanish by English-speaking learners (Collentine, 1995, 1998, 2003; Salaberry, 1999; Slabakova & Montrul, 2002; Terrell, Baycroft & Perrone, 1987). Similarly, Spanish heritage speakers in the U.S exhibit simplification of the preterit/imperfect contrast and incomplete acquisition/attrition of subjunctive morphology (Merino, 1983; Montrul, 2002, 2007; Potowski, Jegerski & Morgan-Short, 2009; Silva-Corvalán, 1994). This raises the question of whether the linguistic knowledge of a developing L2 learner is similar to incomplete L1 acquisition in heritage language (HL) learners. Because heritage speakers are exposed to the heritage language from infancy whereas L2 learners begin exposure much later, Au et al. (2002, 2008) have claimed that heritage speakers are linguistically superior to L2 learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. The present study reexamines this claim by focusing on the interpretation of tense, aspect and mood (TAM) morphology in 60 instructed HL learners and 60 L2 learners ranging from low to advanced proficiency in Spanish. Results of four written tasks showed differences between the groups both in tense and aspect and in mood morphology, depending on proficiency levels. Implications of these findings for heritage language instruction are discussed.

scholarly journals XENONYM-INTERPRETATIVE МАФАНЬ IN NETWORK DISCOURSE OF THE RUSSIAN-SPEAKING DIASPORA OF CHINA

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Ольга Вячеславовна Орлова ◽  
Юаньин Ван
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Communication Analysis ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Transcription System ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Russian Language

Введение. Изучены ксенонимы-интерпретативы в сетевом дискурсе русскоязычной диаспоры Китая как репрезентанте русской лингвокультуры, ориентированной в область китайской культуры. Ксенонимы-интерпретативы имеют полноценные лексические соответствия в языке-реципиенте, не отмечены этнокультурной маркированностью в матричном языке и служат восприятию, пониманию и интерпретации иностранной языковой и социокультурной реальности диаспоральным сообществом. Цель. На основе рассмотрения одного из наиболее распространенных в изучаемом дискурсе китаизмов – ксенонима мафань – проследить механизмы лингводискурсивной адаптации, а также особенности функционирования ксенонима-интерпретатива в публичной интернет-коммуникации русскоязычного сообщества Китая. Материал и методы. Материалом исследования послужили более 500 текстов сетевой коммуникации русскоязычной диаспоры Китая, включающие ксеноним-интерпретатив мафань. Вместе с методологическим инструментарием интерлингвокультурологии, теории заимствования и лексической семантики используются приемы контекстологического и дискурс-анализа, а также корпусной и квантитативной лингвистики. Результаты и обсуждение. Ксеноним-интерпретатив мафань при вхождении в сетевой диаспоральный дискурс и адаптации в нем, в том числе графической, претерпевает значительные семантические, деривационные, стилистические, морфолого-синтаксические трансформации, демонстрируя на всех этих уровнях крайне высокую степень подвижности и вариативности. Анализ вариантов письменной фиксации показал доминирование написания китаизма в соответствии с нормативной транскрипционной системой записи кириллицей китайских имен, наряду со значимым количеством некодифицированных и иероглифических написаний. При приспособлении ксенонима к специфике морфолого-синтаксического строя русского языка также наблюдаются его значительная грамматическая вариативность и факты включения в процесс окказионального словообразования. В ходе анализа данных словарей, а также корпусных и иных данных об употреблении лексемы в аутентичной речевой среде выявлено большое количество различных по честеречной принадлежности и семантике эквивалентов лексемы при ее переводе, а также наличие книжной и этикетной стилистической окраски в китайском языке, не сохраняющейся при вхождении в русскоязычное неформальное общение. Анализ фактов метаязыковой рефлексии по поводу ксенонима, а также совокупности контекстов его употребления в гипертексте диаспорального дискурса обнаружил наличие в русском языке семантической и стилистической лакуны, которую восполняет ксеноним мафань как универсальное понятие, обозначающее неприятную, доставляющую дискомфорт деятельность или ситуацию. Заключение. В результате проведенного анализа составлен нуждающийся в дальнейшей доработке проспект методики комплексного анализа ксенонима-интерпретатива в сетевом диаспоральном дискурсе. Introduction. This research is devoted to the study of xenonyms-interpretatives in the network discourse of the Russian-speaking diaspora of China as a representative of the Russian linguistic culture, which is focused in the area of Chinese culture. Xenonyms-interpretatives have full-fledged lexical correspondences in the recipient language, are not marked by ethno-cultural marking in the matrix language and serve the perception, understanding and interpretation of foreign language and socio-cultural reality by the diaspora community. Aim and objectives. The purpose of the study, based on the consideration of one of the most common in the analyzed discourse xenonym мафань, is to trace the mechanisms of linguistic and discursive adaptation, as well as the peculiarities of functioning of xenonym-interpretative in public Internet communication of the Russian-speaking community in China. Material and methods. The material of the research is more than 500 texts of network communication of the Russian-speaking diaspora community of China, including xenonym-interpretative мафань. Together with the methodological tools of interlinguoculturology, borrowing theory and lexical semantics, the methods of contextual and discourse analysis, corpus and quantitative linguistics are used. Results and discussion. Xenonym-interpretative мафань when entering and adapting in the network diaspora discourse, including graphic adaptation, undergoes large semantic, derivative, stylistic, morphological-syntactic transformations, demonstrating at all these levels an extremely high degree of mobility and variability. The analysis of written fixation variants showed a substantial dominance of spelling according to the normative transcription system of Chinese names written in Cyrillic alphabet, along with a significant number of and hieroglyphic writings. When the xenonym is adapted to the specifics of the morphological and syntactic structure of the Russian language, its significant grammatical variability and facts of inclusion in the process of occasional word formation are also observed. The analysis of dictionaries data, as well as corpus and other data about the use of the word in the authentic speech environment revealed a large number of different in semantics and parts of speech affiliation equivalents of translation, but also the presence of book and etiquette stylistic coloring in the Chinese language, not preserved in the Russian-speaking informal communication. Analysis of the facts of metalanguage reflection on the xenonym, as well as the totality of contexts of its use in the hypertext of diaspora discourse revealed the presence of a semantic and stylistic lacuna in the Russian language, which is filled by the xenonym мафань as a universal concept that denotes unpleasant, discomforting activity or situation. Conclusion. As a result of the research, a project of the methodology of complex analysis of the xenonyminterpretative in the network diaspora discourse has been compiled.

Action and agency in complex sentences from present-day Romanian

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (62) (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Alice BODOC
Keyword(s):  
Natural World ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon ◽  
Matrix Verb

Starting from Alanen’s remark that “actions (exercises of capacities) are found throughout the natural world; and so is agency” (2018, 2), the present paper aims at describing the influence of these two fundamental concepts – action and agency – on the structure of Romanian complex sentences. More precisely, I am interested in providing evidence of a linguistic phenomenon that has received far less attention in the literature, i.e. the semantic restrictions imposed by the matrix verb over the embedded adverbial clause. As concerns the methodology, both qualitative and quantitative analyses will be conducted on an extensive online Romanian corpus (CoRoLa), and will be based on the semantic typologies of the verb included in some of the reference Romanian grammars (GALR 2008, 326; GBLR 2010, 279). One of the most important results of the analysis was the phenomenon of agentivity

A different perspective on embedded Verb Second

2020 ◽  
pp. 297-322
Author(s):  
Rebecca Woods
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Illocutionary Force ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Matrix Verb

This chapter compares embedded verb movement phenomena in English with embedded Verb Second clauses in German and Swedish. Close examination of the syntactic—but more particularly the semantic and pragmatic—properties of these phenomena reveals striking similarities, and the claim is made that these phenomena exhibit independent illocutionary force in the sense that the perspective holder for the embedded proposition or question is disambiguated—a departure from the claim that embedded verb movement structures are asserted (cf. Julien 2015 and Chapter 11 of this volume). It is proposed, following recent innovations in speech act syntax (Wiltschko and Heim 2016; Woods 2016) that these structures are dependent, as the ‘embedded’ clause contains less structure than full a root clause, yet is still structurally larger than a typical embedded clause. However, they are not selected and are instead in an apposition relation with a (usually covert) nominal complement to the matrix verb.

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