scholarly journals How Chinese learners of L2 European Portuguese interpret null and overt pronouns in forward and backward anaphora

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-321
Author(s):  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Paula Luegi ◽  
Ana Madeira ◽  
Gabriela Matos
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Questionnaire Study ◽  
Developmental Effect ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Overt Pronoun ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
The Subject

In a questionnaire study we investigate how native speakers of European Portuguese (EP) and Chinese, as well as Chinese learners of EP as second language (L2), interpret null and overt pronouns in forward and backward anaphora. Results show that EP native speakers exhibit different interpretative biases for null and overt pronominal subjects in both forward and backward anaphora. Chinese native speakers show similar interpretation in backward anaphora in their L1 but a subject preference with both null and overt pronouns in forward anaphora conditions. Chinese learners of L2 EP present an overall preference to interpret both pronouns as referring to the subject referent, although there is a developmental effect towards the target interpretation in overt pronoun backward anaphora conditions. Results confirm previous studies in L2 EP (Madeira et al., 2012; Lobo et al., 2017), but add the possibility that this pattern may be explained by L1 influence.------------------------------------------------------------------------------COMO OS APRENDIZES CHINESES DO PORTUGUÊS EUROPEU L2 INTERPRETAM OS PRONOMES NULOS E CLAROS NA ANÁFORA PARA FRENTE E PARA TRÁSNum estudo de questionário investigamos como os falantes nativos do Português Europeu (PE) e do chinês, bem como os aprendentes chineses que adquirem PE como língua segunda (L2), interpretam pronomes nulos e plenos em condições de anáfora e de catáfora. Os resultados mostram que os falantes nativos de PE exibem diferentes interpretações para sujeitos pronominais nulos e plenos tanto em anáfora como em catáfora. Os falantes nativos de Chinês mostram uma interpretação semelhante em catáfora na sua L1, mas preferem como antecedente o sujeito para pronome nulo e pleno nas condições de anáfora. Os aprendentes chineses de PE L2 preferem interpretar ambos os pronomes como referindo-se a um antecedente sujeito. No entanto, na condição de catáfora com pronome pleno, existe um efeito de desenvolvimento para a interpretação-alvo. Os resultados confirmam os estudos anteriores em PE L2 (Madeira et al. 2012; Lobo et al. 2017) e adicionam a possibilidade de explicar a interpretação na L2 por influência da L1.---Original em inglês.

scholarly journals Aquisição da correferência pronominal catafórica no português europeu por aprendentes chineses

2017 ◽  
pp. 401-422
Author(s):  
Yi Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Overt Pronoun ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Temporal Adverbial ◽  
Matrix Subject

This paper aims to investigate how Chinese learners of European Portuguese as second language acquire backward anaphora in this language, analyzing the interpretation of overt pronoun in left-dislocated temporal adverbial adjunct. Two experiments were administered to test if the syntactic position and the proximity of antecedent are main factors to determine the interpretation by the native speakers of Portuguese and the Chinese learners, as well as if the learners are influenced by their first language. The first test illustrates that in Chinese the native speakers may fluctuate between three possible interpretations in backward anaphora structures, namely the matrix subject, matrix object and the antecedent in context. The second test demonstrates that the native speakers of European Portuguese also fluctuate between the three interpretations, while the Chinese learners do not tend to accept an antecedent in the context. The test also shows that the C1 level learners are more likely to accept the matrix subject as the antecedent of the embedded overt pronoun than the B2 level learners.

scholarly journals An incremental model of second language speech production mechanisms: Developmental evidence from object ellipsis in second language Chinese speech production

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-810
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan ◽  
Lulu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Recall Task ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
Production Mechanisms ◽  
L2 Speech Production

Aims: This study investigates object ellipsis in English and Korean speakers’ second language (L2) Chinese speech production and the effects of first language (L1) influence in L2 Chinese speech production. Design: 59 English speakers and 64 Korean speakers at various Chinese proficiency levels, as well as 16 native speakers of Chinese, participated in the study. In addition to an acceptability judgement test, an utterance-recall task was employed in the study to prime participants for relevant structures. Findings: There are early stages where derivations, such as move, deletion, etc., are not implemented in L2 speech production, although at later stages L2 speech production mechanisms can converge with that of native speakers. No evidence of L1 influence is found, and L2 learners are found to behave differently in the utterance-recall task and the sentence acceptability judgement task. Originality: The study includes data from L2 Chinese learners from beginner to advanced levels and provides a comprehensive picture of structural priming effects on the development of L2 speech production. Implications: There is a discontinuity in the development of L2 speech production mechanisms, and the development of the mechanisms is incremental in nature. Mechanisms for L2 language comprehension are different from those for L2 speech production, at least as far as L2 at the early stages is concerned.

scholarly journals Agreement attraction in native and nonnative speakers of German

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOL LAGO ◽  
CLAUDIA FELSER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Linear Distance ◽  
The Subject

ABSTRACTSecond language speakers often struggle to apply grammatical constraints such as subject–verb agreement. One hypothesis for this difficulty is that it results from problems suppressing syntactically unlicensed constituents in working memory. We investigated which properties of these constituents make them more likely to elicit errors: their grammatical distance to the subject head or their linear distance to the verb. We used double modifier constructions (e.g., the smell of the stables of the farmers), where the errors of native speakers are modulated by the linguistic relationships between the nouns in the subject phrase: second plural nouns, which are syntactically and semantically closer to the subject head, elicit more errors than third plural nouns, which are linearly closer to the verb (2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry). In order to dissociate between grammatical and linear distance, we compared embedded and coordinated modifiers, which were linearly identical but differed in grammatical distance. Using an attraction paradigm, we showed that German native speakers and proficient Russian speakers of German exhibited similar attraction rates and that their errors displayed a 2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry, which was more pronounced in embedded than in coordinated constructions. We suggest that both native and second language learners prioritize linguistic structure over linear distance in their agreement computations.

Acquiring phenomena at the syntax/semantics interface in L2 Spanish

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 67-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes ◽  
Theodoros Marinis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Verb Semantics ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Interface Phenomena ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Subject

Recent second language (L2) acquisition research has proposed that purely syntactic features are easier to acquire and less vulnerable than ones involving the interfaces (Sorace, 2004; Serratrice et al. 2004). The present paper addresses this issue by investigating the acquisition of the Spanish personal preposition a in English L2 learners of Spanish. The distribution of a in direct object NPs relates to the specificity/definiteness of the NP, the animacy/agentivity of the subject, and verb semantics (Torrego 1998; Zagona 2002). 33 English L2 learners of Spanish of different proficiency levels, and 14 Spanish controls participated in an acceptability judgement task. The results showed significant differences between native speakers and L2 learners of all proficiency levels, who performed at chance, and support the claim that L2 learners have difficulties acquiring structures involving the syntax/semantics interface. However, the advanced learners showed sensitivity to the least complex condition providing evidence that interface phenomena may be acquirable.

How cognitive typology affects second language acquisition: A study of Japanese and Chinese learners of English

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Spring ◽  
Kaoru Horie
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Learning Curves ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Language Type

AbstractThis study looks at the effect of one's first language type, as proposed by Talmy (2000) and Slobin (2004), on their second language acquisition. Talmy (2000) gives an account of languages as being either verb-framed or satellite-framed based on how path and manner of motion are encoded in motion events. Meanwhile, Slobin (2004) argues for a third language type, which he calls equipollently-framed. This study compares and contrasts the learning curves of equipollently-framed language (Mandarin Chinese) native speakers and verb-framed language (Japanese) native speakers as they learn a satellite-framed language (English). It examines not only the learner's pattern preferences, but also their manner of motion encoding preferences and deictic verb usage to show that there is a clear difference in how the two groups of learners acquire a second language of a different type from their own native language.

scholarly journals Resolução anafórica em português europeu L2: efeitos de animacidade e a posição do antecedente

2021 ◽  
pp. 260-275
Author(s):  
Joana Teixeira ◽  
Alexandra Fiéis ◽  
Ana Madeira
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Anaphora Resolution ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Choice Tasks

This study investigates the interpretation of subject pronouns in L2 EP by Italian native speakers, to examine the following questions: In overt subject resolution, do L1 Italian - L2 European Portuguese learners behave like L1 EP speakers regarding antecedent animacy (a property at the syntax-semantics interface) at L2 developmental stages and at the near-native level?; When the antecedent in object position is animate, do L1 Italian - L2 EP learners exhibit permanent optionality in the interpretation of overt subject pronouns but not of null subjects, as claimed by Sorace (2016), a.o.? Participants were 15 adult EP native speakers, 10 intermediate, 10 advanced and 10 near-native Italian adult learners of L2 EP. They were administered two multiple-choice tasks (speeded and untimed) with a 2x2 design crossing the following variables: animacy of the matrix object (animate vs. inanimate) and type of embedded pronominal subject (overt vs. null). Results indicate that L2 learners show problems only in the areas where the L1 and the L2 differ (Madeira, Fiéis & Teixeira, this volume), namely: the resolution of overt subjects in the presence of [-animate] object antecedent and the resolution of null subjects. Learners’ performance in these areas remains unstable even at the near-native level. These findings challenge the ideas that internal interfaces (syntax/semantics) are not persistently problematic and that null subjects are unproblematic in L2 anaphora resolution (cf. Sorace, 2011, 2016). They moreover point to the importance of L1 influence in L2 anaphora resolution, a factor generally played down in previous studies (e.g., Sorace, 2016).

Discourse Markers in the Academic Writing of Arab Students of English: A Corpus-based Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Abeer Q. Taweel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Shed Light

This study aims to shed light on the discourse markers used in the academic writing of Arab students of English as a second language within the framework of corpus linguistics. By so doing, an attempt will be made to examine the use of the discourse marker expressing attitude, sequence, cause and result, addition, and comparing and contrasting. For comparison purposes, similar-sized authentic corpus will be used to examine the learners’ use, overuse, and underuse of the target markers. Moreover, the study will provide a detailed account of the possible reasons contributing to the disparity between the two corpora in terms of the use of the target markers. Results show that learners use more discourse markers than native speakers. While this is a general tendency, it still remains feasible to attribute the disparity between the two corpora to learners L1 influence where some of the overused markers spring out naturally and smoothly as they have rhetorical functions in learners’ native tongue.

Hur ser tysk L2-produktion ut hos svenska, kinesiska och vitryska avancerade inlärare?

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Christina Rosén
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Structural Patterns ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Discourse Pragmatics

AbstractThis paper investigates first language (L1) influence on the acquisition of syntax and discourse pragmatics in a second language (L2) in essays written by advanced learners of German from Sweden, China and Belarus (the KobaltDaF Corpus). The control corpus consists of essays written by native German speakers. The study focuses on the clause-initial preverbal position of V2 declaratives, the so-called prefield (Vorfeld) and the Vor-Vorfeld. The results show that the language-specific information structural patterns that exist in the L1 have an impact on the L2. The forms and frequencies of prefield constituent types differ substantially from the target language, indicating transfer in a domain other than pure syntax. The learners start their sentences in a nonnative way. Even though Swedish and German are closely related languages, the results show, contrary to what is expected, that Chinese learners produce patterns that are more targetlike. In addition, implications of these findings for language teaching are discussed.

scholarly journals Viés de causalidade implícita para 50 predicados do Português Brasileiro / Implicity Causality Bias for 50 Predicates in Brazilian Portuguese

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Renata Sabrinne Souza de Carvalho ◽  
Mahayana Cristina Godoy
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Normative Study ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Implicit Causality ◽  
Do So

Resumo: Nesse trabalho, construímos um corpus com predicados de causalidade implícita para o Português Brasileiro (PB). A causalidade implícita é uma propriedade de uma classe de predicados verbais cuja causa para o evento que denotam tende a recair, para alguns verbos, no sujeito da oração (“enfurecer”, “decepcionar”) e, para outros, em seu objeto (“parabenizar”, “admirar”). Nosso objetivo foi registrar o viés de causalidade de 50 predicados. Para isso, realizamos um experimento de continuação de sentenças com 34 participantes, falantes nativos de português brasileiro. Nossas análises identificaram 24 verbos com viés de causalidade associado ao sujeito e 22 verbos com viés de causalidade associada ao objeto. Esses resultados expandem um corpus já existente em português europeu (COSTA, 2003). Que saibamos, este é o primeiro estudo normativo para a construção de um corpus de causalidade implícita que tem como alvo falantes de português brasileiro. O resultado é um conjunto de verbos que podem ser usados em futuros estudos em psicolinguística ou psicologia que lidem com relações de causalidade. Palavras-chave: psicolinguística; causalidade implícita; verbos; português brasileiro.Abstract: In this paper, we built an implicit causality corpus for Brazilian Portuguese (BP) verbal predicates. Implicit causality is a property of some verbal predicates that strongly associate their causality with their subject (for verbs such as “enrage”, “disappoint”) or their object (for verbs like “congratulate”, “admire”). Our goal was to measure the causality bias of 50 predicates. In order to do so, we carried out a sentence continuation experiment with 34 participants, all native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. Our results identify 24 verbs with a causal bias associated with the subject of the clause, and 22 verbs with a causal bias associated with its object. These results expand a corpus that already exists in European Portuguese (Costa, 2003). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first normative study for the construction of a corpus of implicit causality that targets Brazilian Portuguese speakers. The result is a set of verbal predicates that can be used in future studies in psycholinguistics or psychology that aims at investigating causal relationships.Keywords: psycholinguistics; implicity causality; verbs; Brazilian portuguese.

scholarly journals Agreement attraction in native and non-native speakers of German

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sol Lago ◽  
Claudia Felser
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Linear Distance ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Subject

Second language (L2) speakers often struggle to apply grammatical constraints such as subject-verb agreement. One hypothesis for this difficulty is that it results from problems suppressing syntactically unlicensed constituents in working memory. We investigated which properties of these constituents make them more likely to elicit errors: their grammatical distance to the subject head or their linear distance to the verb. We used double modifier constructions (e.g. “the smell of the stables of the farmers”), where the errors of native speakers are modulated by the linguistic relationships between the nouns in the subject phrase: 2nd-plural nouns, which are syntactically and semantically closer to the subject head, elicit more errors than 3rd-plural nouns, which are linearly closer to the verb (2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry). In order to dissociate between grammatical and linear distance, we compared embedded and coordinated modifiers, which were linearly identical but differed in grammatical distance. Using an attraction paradigm, we showed that German native speakers and proficient Russian speakers of German exhibited similar attraction rates and that their errors displayed a 2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry, which was more pronounced in embedded than in coordinated constructions. We suggest that both native and L2 learners prioritize linguistic structure over linear distance in their agreement computations.

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