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Argument structure in second language acquisition*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Lydia White
Lydia White
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, McGill University, 1001 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Canada H3A 1 G5
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Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of the first language (LI) on second language (L2) argument structure, in two situations: (i) LI sentences form a superset of those permitted in the L2; (ii) L2 sentences form a superset of those permitted in the LI. An experiment was conducted on 55 anglophone children learning French in Canada. Subject completed a perference task, comparing sentences which varied the types of arguments and adjuncts, and their ordering. Result indicate that the subject differed from a native speaker control group in various ways; English argument structure had effects but learners were also sensitve to properties of French which are distinct from English.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of French Language Studies , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , September 1991 , pp. 189 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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