This book presents comprehensive and rigorous research on the acquisition of Chinese negation by L1-English and L1-Korean learners within the theoretical framework of the Interface Hypothesis and the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. The results from grammaticality judgment data (N=182) and learner corpus data (overall scale: 15.19 million characters) reveal multiple factors contributing to the variability in L2 acquisition at the interfaces involved with Chinese negative structures, including L1 influence, the quantity (input frequency) and the quality of the target input (input consistency and regularity), as well as L2 proficiency. These factors also underlie the detectability and reassembly of the [±realis] features encoded with bu and mei, the two primary negation markers in Mandarin Chinese, in different licensing contexts. Task modality (written vs. aural) seems to play a role in L2 learners’ access to explicit and implicit knowledge about Chinese negation, but the effect of task modality is constrained by other factors such as structural/feature complexity, L2 proficiency, and L1-L2 similarity. The approach of employing both elicited experimental data and authentic learner corpus data furnishes new evidence for the acquisition Chinese negation by L2 learners. The findings of this study are of significance to the examination of the Interface Hypothesis and the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis in generative-oriented SLA research.
Author(s): Jia Wang
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 307
City: Singapore
Preface
References
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
1.2 Aims of the Present Study
1.3 Structure of the Book
References
2 Theoretical Frameworks and Related Studies
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Interface Hypothesis
2.2.1 What is Meant by “Interface”?
2.2.2 The Assumptions of the Interface Hypothesis
2.2.3 Previous Studies on L2 Acquisition at Interfaces
2.2.4 Applicability of the IH to the Present Study
2.3 The Feature Reassembly Hypothesis
2.3.1 What is a “Feature”?
2.3.2 Feature Selection as Parameter Setting in SLA
2.3.3 The Main Assumptions of the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis
2.3.4 Previous Studies Based on the FRH
2.3.5 Applicability of the FRH to the Present Study
2.4 Explicit/Implicit Knowledge in L2 Acquisition
2.4.1 The Distinction Between Explicit and Implicit L2 Knowledge
2.4.2 The Measurement of Explicit and Implicit L2 Knowledge Through Task Modality
2.4.3 Relevance to the Present Study
2.5 Interim Summary
References
3 Linguistic Analyses of Negation in Chinese, English, and Korean
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Analyses of Chinese Negation
3.2.1 Syntactic Structure Analyses
3.2.2 Semantic Feature Analyses
3.2.3 Interface Analyses
3.3 English Negation in Comparison with Chinese Negation
3.4 Korean Negation in Comparison with Chinese Negation
3.5 Overall Comparison of Negation in Chinese, English, and Korean
3.6 Interim Summary
References
4 Previous Studies on L1 and L2 Acquisition of Negation in Mandarin Chinese
4.1 Introduction
4.2 L1 Acquisition of Chinese Negation
4.3 L2 Acquisition of Chinese Negation
4.4 Interim Summary
References
5 The Present Study
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Research Questions of the Present Study
5.3 Predictions of the Present Study
5.3.1 Predictions Based on the Interface Hypothesis
5.3.2 Predictions Based on the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis
5.3.3 Predictions Based on the Distinction Between Explicit and Implicit Knowledge
5.4 Research Design
5.4.1 The Experimental Study
5.4.2 The Corpus-Based Study
5.5 Interim Summary
References
6 Results of the Experimental Study
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Overall Results of the Written and Aural GJTs of All Subject Groups
6.3 Results of the Written and Aural GJTs of Each Negative Structure
6.3.1 Results of the Judgment on the Position of bu/mei in Verbal Complement Constructions
6.3.2 Results of the Judgment of Temporal Constraints on Negation
6.3.3 Results of the Judgment of Lexical Aspectual Constraints on Negation
6.3.4 Results of the Judgment of Grammatical Aspectual Constraints on Negation
6.3.5 Results of the Judgment of the Constraint of Hypothetical Context on Negation
6.4 The Development Sequence in L2 Acquisition of Chinese Negative Structures
6.4.1 L1-English Learners’ Development Sequence
6.4.2 L1-Korean Learners’ Development Sequence
6.5 Interim Summary
7 Results of the Corpus-Based Study
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Overview of the Production of Chinese Negation in the Written Corpora by L1-English and L1-Korean Learners
7.3 Results of the Production of bu/mei in Each Category of Constructions by L1-English and L1-Korean Learners
7.3.1 Results of the Production of bu/mei in Verbal Complement Constructions
7.3.2 Results of the Production of bu/mei in Different Temporal Frameworks
7.3.3 Results of the Production of bu/mei in Negating Different Lexical Aspects
7.3.4 Results of the Production of bu/mei in Negating Different Grammatical Aspects
7.3.5 Results of the Production of bu/mei in the Conditional Clause
7.4 Summary of the Main Results
7.5 Comparisons of the Results from the Experimental Study and the Corpus-Based Study
7.5.1 Negation in Verbal Complement Constructions
7.5.2 Negation and Temporal Information
7.5.3 Negation and Lexical Aspect
7.5.4 Negation and Grammatical Aspect
7.5.5 Negation and Hypothetical Context
7.6 Interim Summary
8 Discussion
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The IH and L2 Acquisition at Multiple Interfaces Implicated with Chinese Negation
8.2.1 Full Attainment at the Narrow Syntax
8.2.2 Variability at Internal Interfaces
8.2.3 Re-assessing the Validity of the IH in SLA
8.2.4 Summary
8.3 The FRH and L2 Acquisition of the Mood Features Encoded with Chinese Negation
8.3.1 Overall Patterns in the Reassembly of the [±realis] Features
8.3.2 Nonparallel Reassembly of the [±realis] Features in Different Licensing Contexts
8.3.3 Evaluating the Explanatory and Predictive Power of the FRH in SLA
8.3.4 Summary
8.4 Comparison of the IH and the FRH in Accounting for L2 Acquisition of Chinese Negation
8.5 The Representation of Explicit and Implicit Knowledge in L2 Grammar
8.5.1 Access to Explicit Knowledge in the Written Task
8.5.2 Access to Implicit Knowledge in the Aural Task
8.5.3 U-Shaped Behaviour in the Representation of Explicit Knowledge
8.5.4 Summary
8.6 The Approach of Employing Both Elicitation Data and Corpus Data in L2 Acquisition Research
8.6.1 The Merits of Using Elicitation Data
8.6.2 The Merits of Using Corpus Data
8.6.3 Summary
8.7 Interim Summary of the Main Findings
References
9 Conclusion
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Theoretical Significance in SLA
9.3 Implications for the Instruction of Negation in TCFL
9.4 Limitations and Future Research
References
Appendix 1 Test Items Used in the Grammaticality Judgment Test
Appendix 2 A Sample of the Grammaticality Judgment Test
Appendix 3 Sample of the Chinese Cloze Test
Appendix 4 Criteria for the Division of Chinese Proficiency in the Corpora
Appendix 5 Means of Judgment and Standard Derivations in the Written and Aural GJTs by L2 learners and Chinese Natives
