Argument-Adjunct Asymmetry in the Acquisition of Inversion in "Wh"-Questions by Korean Learners of English

Autor/in	Lee, Sun-Young
Titel	Argument-Adjunct Asymmetry in the Acquisition of Inversion in "Wh"-Questions by Korean Learners of English
Quelle	In: Language Learning, 58 (2008) 3, S.625-663 (39 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0023-8333
DOI	10.1111/j.1467-9922.2008.00452.x
Schlagwörter	Korean; Native Speakers; Second Language Learning; English (Second Language); Learning Processes; Grammar; Language Research; Computational Linguistics; Linguistic Input + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Koreanisch; Muttersprachler; Zweitsprachenerwerb; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Learning process; Lernprozess; Grammatik; Sprachforschung; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Sprachbildung
Abstract	This article investigates an argument-adjunct asymmetry in English as a second language (ESL) learners' acquisition of inversion in "wh"-questions. A generative approach (DeVilliers, 1991; Stromswold, 1990) claims that inversion is acquired earlier in argument "wh"-questions than in adjunct "wh"-questions, the asymmetry resulting from their different structural properties. However, an input frequency approach (Rowland & Pine, 2000, 2003; Rowland, Pine, Lieven, & Theakston, 2005) proposes that individual "wh"-word + auxiliary combinations are acquired based on their input frequency, with no argument-adjunct asymmetry being predicted other than as an indirect consequence of a frequency difference. Two studies were conducted: one acquisition study with a grammaticality judgment task and one input study with a corpus analysis of the learners' input sources. The results show that learners are more successful at subject-auxiliary inversion in argument "wh"-questions than in adjunct "wh"-questions and that the argument-adjunct asymmetry cannot be traced to input frequency. The results of the studies here run counter to the input frequency account but conform to the prediction of a structure-based generative approach: There exists an argument-adjunct asymmetry in the acquisition of inversion in "wh"-questions because of the different syntactic properties of two types of "wh"-phrases. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10