L2 Acquisition of Subject-Prominence by EFL Students in Taiwan
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Date
2003-04-??
Authors
陳純音
黃心怡
廖慧慈
Hui-chi Liao
Chun-yin Chen
Hsin-yi Huang
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
國立台灣師範大學英語學系
Department of English, NTNU
Department of English, NTNU
Abstract
中文具「主題顯著性」，因此也可以說是一個「超級集合」(superset)語言；而英文則具「主詞顯著性」，屬於一個「副集合」(subset)語言。 本研究依中、英文的語言特性設甫實驗，探應以「超級集合」語言(如：中文)為母語的人士學習「副集合」語言(如英文)時是否有學習困難。本帢驗測試了45 位以英語為外語的中國學生，其學習年限約3~6年，共參與了兩個實驗：一是「排序測驗」(an ordering task)，另一是「接受度測驗」(an acceptability judgment task)。研究發現，大部皆受試的臺灣學生對英文句子特已能掌握，已成功習英語的「主詞顯著性」，唯在接受度測驗中發現仍有母語轉移的現象，大多數的中 國學生較美國學生來得容易接受有「主題顯著性」的英文句子。
As a topic-prominent (TP) language, Chinese is classified as a superset language, while English, a subject-prominent (SP) language, is a subset language. On the basis of this difference, we would like to see I learners of a superset language have great difficulty in acquiring a subset language, and if the intermediate learners of English in Taiwan are still influenced by this typological variation, hence yielding a significant transfer effect. In this study, we investigated forty-five Chinese students of English who have learned English for three to six years. Two experiments were designed: one was an ordering task and the other was an acceptability judgment task. The results show that SP features have already been successfully acquire, since most of our subjects did not encounter great difficulty in acquiring English SP features. With respect to L1 transfer, we found that there were still some residual L1 effects reflected in the acceptability judgment task, in which our subjects tended to accept more TP sentences than English native speckers.
As a topic-prominent (TP) language, Chinese is classified as a superset language, while English, a subject-prominent (SP) language, is a subset language. On the basis of this difference, we would like to see I learners of a superset language have great difficulty in acquiring a subset language, and if the intermediate learners of English in Taiwan are still influenced by this typological variation, hence yielding a significant transfer effect. In this study, we investigated forty-five Chinese students of English who have learned English for three to six years. Two experiments were designed: one was an ordering task and the other was an acceptability judgment task. The results show that SP features have already been successfully acquire, since most of our subjects did not encounter great difficulty in acquiring English SP features. With respect to L1 transfer, we found that there were still some residual L1 effects reflected in the acceptability judgment task, in which our subjects tended to accept more TP sentences than English native speckers.