Developmental trajectory of relative clauses among mandarin learners of English
Journal
Concentric: Studies in Linguistics
Journal Volume
41
Journal Issue
1
Pages
63-94
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abstract
In elucidating the difficulty of relative clause processing and acquisition, previous studies have mostly focused on two theories, i.e., Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and Perceptual Difficulty Hypothesis. In recent years, Gibson's Dependency Locality Theory proposed a detailed calculation regarding energy units spent at each position in a sentence and has drawn much attention and support in research. The present study tested the predictions of these three theories by looking at relative clause production in English compositions written by Mandarin-speaking EFL learners, including senior high school sophomores, senior high school seniors, college non-English majors, college first-year English majors, and college second-year English majors. Results show different levels of support for different theories, with each theory having its own strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the results also clearly indicate that when the L2 proficiency of Mandarin-speaking EFL learners increases, the learners exhibit better control over the production of relative clauses in their compositions.
SDGs
Type
journal article