Access to UG and language transfer: a study of L2 learners' interpretation of reconstruction in Chinese

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Ying
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Speaking

Twenty-seven English-speaking learners of Chinese (the experimental groups) and 20 native speakers of Chinese (the control group) participated in a study that investigated second language learners' knowledge of reconstruction (NP and predicate fronted sentences with ziji ‘self’) in Chinese. Results of a sentence interpretation task indicate that English-speaking learners of Chinese had knowledge of ambiguity of antecedence of ziji inside a moved predicate, and lack of ambiguity of antecedence of ziji inside a moved NP, although such information is not directly available in English. While the experiment produced evidence that they appeared to have access to Universal Grammar, English-speaking learners of Chinese bound ziji in non-movement sentences to an embedded subject, indicating that they mapped the narrower setting of reflexives in English onto a wider parameter setting of ziji in Chinese.

scholarly journals Comprehension of grammatically modified and nonmodified sentences by second language learners

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Issidorides ◽  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
State Of Affairs

ABSTRACTAt issue in the present research is whether native speakers' “simplified” or modified utterances, as in foreigner-talk (FT), actually facilitate comprehension for nonnative speakers hearing such utterances. It was hypothesized that (grammatical) Dutch inversion sentences (AdvVSO) that have proven to be problematic in studies on Dutch second language (L2) acquisition - as reflected both in the (ungrammatical) output of L2 learners and in the (ungrammatical) FT input to L2 learners - would not be problematic in terms of comprehension, when compared with modified, ungrammatical AdvSVO and AdvSOV sentences, as long as such sentences do not express an implausible state of affairs. Three subject groups participated in the experiment: 20 English and 22 Turkish L2 learners of Dutch and 30 Dutch native speakers (control group). Subjects heard and interpreted declarative Dutch sentences, in which word order (NVN, VNN, NNV) and animacy configurations (Al [i.e., animate/inanimate], AA, LA) were systematically manipulated. Subjects had to name the noun (first or second) that functions as actor/subject of the sentence. Positive evidence was found for the hypotheses. It is concluded from the present study, as well as from a previous study (Issidorides, 1988), that linguistically more complex input will not necessarily impede comprehension. The fact that normative speakers have difficulties in producing a certain grammatical structure (e.g., the AdvVSO structure) does not imply that such a structure is also more difficult to understand in the speech of others.

Priming and adaptation in native speakers and second-language learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDITH KAAN ◽  
EUNJIN CHUN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
L2 Learners

Native speakers show rapid adjustment of their processing strategies and preferences on the basis of the structures they have recently encountered. The present study investigated the nature of priming and adaptation in second-language (L2) speakers and, more specifically, whether similar mechanisms underlie L2 and native language adaptation. Native English speakers and Korean L2 learners of English completed a written priming study probing the use of double object and prepositional phrase datives. Both groups showed cumulative adaptation effects for both types of dative, which was stronger for the structure that was initially less frequent to them (prepositional phrase datives for the native English speakers, and double object datives for the L2 learners). This supports models of priming that incorporate frequency-based modulation of long-lasting activation of structures. L2 learners and native speakers use similar processing mechanisms; differences in adaptation can be accounted for by differences in the relative frequency of structures.

Relevance mapping: a study of second language learners’ processing of syntactically ambiguous sentences in English

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Ying
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Contextual Effects ◽  
Procedural Information ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Processing Effort

Forty adult Chinese-speaking learners of English and 20 native speakers of American English participated in a study of second language learners’ interpretation of syntactically ambiguous sentences involving that-clauses that could potentially be interpreted as complements or as relative clause. Two sentence interpretation tasks suggest that the principle of relevance constrained the interpretations. The learners showed a preference for interpreting the that-clause as a complement in the first task, using fewer syntactic nodes because it involved less processing effort. In the second task, however, the learners showed a preference for the relative clause reading, suggesting that the procedural information encoded by preceding referential sentences had the effect of reducing the overall processing effort required and of guiding the second language (L2) learners towards the intended contextual effects.

Gender and number processing in second language Swahili

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-476
Author(s):  
Patti Spinner ◽  
Rebecca Foote ◽  
Rose Acen Upor
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract For native speakers, congruent gender marking on determiners and adjectives facilitates recognition of subsequent nouns, while incongruent marking inhibits recognition (e.g., Bates et al., 1996). However, there is conflicting evidence regarding whether second language learners demonstrate this effect. We investigated this issue in Swahili. Native speakers and English-speaking L2 learners of Swahili in their 3rd-5th semester completed two word repetition tasks, one examining gender and one number. Participants heard verb-noun phrases in Swahili with verbal marking that was congruent, incongruent or neutral with respect to gender or number. The time to repeat each noun was recorded. Both language groups appeared sensitive to number marking; however, only native speakers appeared sensitive to gender marking. The findings suggest the lack of a feature in the L1 may impede online processing in the L2, while the presence of a feature may mean that native-like processing is possible, even at early levels of proficiency.

Selective vulnerability and dominant language transfer in the acquisition of the Chinese cleft construction by heritage speakers

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-227
Author(s):  
Ziyin Mai ◽  
Xiangjun Deng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Selective Vulnerability ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Different Types

Abstract This study investigates effects of selective vulnerability and dominant language transfer in heritage grammar. Mandarin Chinese has a shì…de cleft construction, which, despite its superficial similarities with the it-cleft in English, is subject to additional conditions. Four experimental tasks elicited eighteen adult heritage speakers’ implicit knowledge of the word order and the temporal, telicity and discourse conditions associated with the Chinese cleft. The heritage speakers demonstrated target-like representation of the conditions. Meanwhile, their sensitivity to the telicity and discourse conditions is weaker than that of native speakers in Beijing, suggesting selective vulnerability in the heritage grammar. By comparing the heritage speakers with adult second language learners of Chinese, we concluded that the vulnerability of the heritage grammar in the discourse domain did not result from cross-linguistic influence from English. In different types of Chinese-English bilinguals, the dominant language affects the weaker language in different ways.

Acquisition of the constraints on wanna contraction by advanced second language learners: Universal grammar and imperfect knowledge

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo-Ok Kweon ◽  
Robert Bley-Vroman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Child Language Acquisition ◽  
Imperfect Knowledge ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

Contraction of want to to wanna is subject to constraints that have been related to the operation of Universal Grammar. Contraction appears to be blocked when the trace of an extracted wh-word intervenes. Evidence for knowledge of these constraints by young English-speaking children has been taken to show the operation of Universal Grammar in early child language acquisition. The present study investigates knowledge of these constraints in adults, both English native speakers and advanced Korean learners of English. The results of three experiments — using elicited production, oral repair, and grammaticality judgments — confirmed native speaker knowledge of the constraints. A second process of phonological elision may also operate to produce wanna. Learners also showed some differentiation of contexts, but much less clearly than native speakers. We speculate that non-natives may be using rules of complement selection, rather than the constraints of Universal Grammar (UG) to control contraction.

AGE AND ULTIMATE ATTAINMENT IN THE PRONUNCIATION OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Bongaerts ◽  
Chantal van Summeren ◽  
Brigitte Planken ◽  
Erik Schils
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Late Start ◽  
Ultimate Attainment

This paper reports on two studies that addressed the issue of ultimate attainment by late second language learners. The aim of the studies, which included a carefully screened group of highly successful Dutch learners of English in their designs, was to determine whether or not late second language learners who had achieved a nativelike performance in the pronunciation of a second language could be identified. Speech samples provided by two groups of learners, one of which consisted of highly successful learners only, and a native speaker control group were rated for accent by native speakers of English. The ratings obtained by some learners were within the range of the ratings assigned to the native speaker controls. Such results suggest that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological period of time. Examination of the learning histories of the highly successful learners lead the authors to argue that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may work together to override the disadvantages of a late start.

Animacy affects the processing of subject–object ambiguities in the second language: Evidence from self-paced reading with German second language learners of Dutch

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARRIE N. JACKSON ◽  
LEAH ROBERTS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
On Line ◽  
Auxiliary Verb ◽  
Grammatical Roles ◽  
Reading Study

ABSTRACTThe results of a self-paced reading study with German second language (L2) learners of Dutch showed that noun animacy affected the learners' on-line commitments when comprehending relative clauses in their L2. Earlier research has found that German L2 learners of Dutch do not show an on-line preference for subject–object word order in temporarily ambiguous relative clauses when no disambiguating material is available prior to the auxiliary verb. We investigated whether manipulating the animacy of the ambiguous noun phrases would push the learners to make an on-line commitment to either a subject- or object-first analysis. Results showed they performed like Dutch native speakers in that their reading times reflected an interaction between topichood and animacy in the on-line assignment of grammatical roles.

The acquisition of parameterized grammars

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Negative Evidence ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Identical Fashion

In this paper, I look at some problems that arise if second language learners are assumed to acquire the L2 on the basis of unconstrained hypothesis testing, since this crucially involves the assumption of the availability of negative evidence and does not seem to be sufficiently 'fine-tuned' for the learner to acquire certain aspects of the L2 grammar. Instead, it is proposed that L2 acquisition, like L1, may involve the prior knowledge of a number of highly contrained principles of Universal Grammar which restrict the number of options available to the learner. In some cases, these principles may be subject to parametric variation, so that they do not work in identical fashion in L1 and L2, allowing for the possibility of transfer of the L1 parameter setting. Taking subjacency as a case in point, a pilot study is reported in which native speakers of French and Spanish learning English as a second language were tested for their judgements on the bounding status of S in the L2 grammar. In English S is a bounding node, whereas in French and Spanish it is not. It was found that subjects were less accurate in their judgements on the bounding status of S in English than native-speaking controls, with a number of subjects consistently transferring the L1 parameter. In most cases, subjects showed improvement with increasing level of ESL proficiency. The majority of subjects adopted a consistent position with respect to the question of the bounding status of S, suggesting that they were not indulging in unconstrained hypothesis testing.

Transfer of L1 Parameter Settings: Some Empirical Evidence from Polish Metrics

1992 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
Second Language Learner

This paper describes an empirical investigation as to the utility of a principles and parameters model of grammar in describing the interlanguage grammars of second language learners. I argue that the framework of parameterized universal grammar is useful in accounting for second language learner knowledge and behaviour. The vast majority of their errors can be accounted for by the transfer of their first language (L1) parameter setting into the second language (L2).

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