Learnability and the Lexicon in Second Language Acquisition [microform] : Chinese Learners' Acquisition of English Argument Structure
Author | : Alan Juffs |
Publisher | : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada |
Total Pages | : 572 |
Release | : 1993 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:427995721 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 ( Downloads) |
Download or read book Learnability and the Lexicon in Second Language Acquisition [microform] : Chinese Learners' Acquisition of English Argument Structure written by Alan Juffs and published by National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada. This book was released on 1993 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This thesis investigates the knowledge of semantics-syntax correspondences in second language acquisition (SLA) within the Principles and Parameters framework. A parameter of semantic structure is proposed to account for crosslinguistic syntactic differences between two previously unrelated, and superficially distinct, verb classes: change of state locatives and 'psychological' verbs. Chinese and English contrast in terms of the parameter setting. Experimental evidence indicates that adult Chinese learners of English L2 initially transfer parameter settings, but are able to reset the proposed parameter. However, they only acquire L2 lexical properties and concomitant syntactic privileges with ease when L2 input adds a representation to their grammar. When positive L2 input should pre-empt overgeneralizations based on representation transferred from the L1, it is shown that L1 influence may persist until quite advanced stages of acquisition. The implications of the results are discussed for the parameter setting model of SLA." --