Asking questions in learner English: First and second language acquisition of main and embedded interrogative structures
Item
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Title
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Asking questions in learner English: First and second language acquisition of main and embedded interrogative structures
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:f0f6ca8f34f4:11094
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identifier
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11330
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Creator
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Pozzan, Lucia,
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Contributor
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Virginia V. Valian
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Date
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2011
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Linguistics | embedded questions | first language acquisition | magnitude estimation | main questions | production | second language acquisition
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Abstract
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This dissertation examines how adults and children learning English produce and judge English questions. The ultimate goal of this study is to contribute to an understanding of the extent, nature and causes of learners' persistent difficulties with some syntactic properties of the language they are acquiring.;To examine whether word order errors in the production of English interrogatives by L2 learners stem from lack of knowledge or from difficulties with automatic implementation of L2 procedures under real time constraints, L2 learners' performance in tasks that tap into different abilities is compared. To examine whether errors in the production of English interrogatives by L2 learners can be imputed to L1 transfer, L1 Chinese and L1 Spanish production patterns are compared. Finally, to examine whether errors in the production of L1 learners can be attributed to properties of the adult input, the results from an elicited production study with 3--5 year olds are examined in light of the frequency of different word combinations in the adult input.;Taken together, the present results indicate that difficulties with English interrogative structures (a) are a consistent phenomenon in L1 and L2 learners, (b) might be better accounted for in terms of non-target-like representations, rather than difficulties with implementation of L2 procedures, and (c) do not follow in a direct way from L1 transfer or properties of the input.;Learners' errors depend on specific syntactic configurations ( wh- vs. yes/no) and wh-words ( why, when), suggesting that child and adult learners entertain similar grammatical hypotheses and make use of similar mechanisms for language acquisition.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Linguistics
