Acquisition of be by Cantonese ESL Learners in Hong Kong and its Pedagogical Implications
English language Second language acquisition LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES sähkökirjat
Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
2014
EISBN 9783035106503
Cover; Table of Contents 5; Chapter 1 Introduction: Knowledge, Classroom Input and Performance in the Development of Second Languages 9; 1.1 Overview 9; 1.2 What Constitutes Second Language Acquisition 11; 1.2.1 Effects of Classroom Input in the Development o fInterlanguage Grammars 11; 1.2.2 Hypotheses about the role of the L1 18; 1.2.3 Knowledge and performance 22; 1.3 Summary 27; 1.4 Organization of the Book 27; Chapter 2 Linguistic Assumptions 29; 2.1 Introduction 29; 2.2 What is Be? 29; 2.2.1 Copula Be in English 29; 2.2.2 Progressive be 32; 2.3 The syntax of be 35.
2.4 The Cantonese equivalent of be: haih 412.4.1 How progressive be is expressed in Cantonese 41; 2.4.2 Syntactic Distribution of haih 42; 2.4.3 Functions of haih 45; 2.4.4 The underlying syntactic structure of constructions involving haih 50; 2.5 Comparison of English be and Cantonese haih 53; Chapter 3 Literature Review 57; 3.1 Introduction 57; 3.2 Summary of L2 morpheme studies 57; 3.3 Acquisition problems posed by be 65; 3.3.1 Possible Accounts for the Omission problem 69; 3.4 Research Questions 78; Chapter 4 Methodology 81; 4.1 Experiment 81; 4.2 Subjects 81; 4.3 Procedures 83.
4.4 Rationale for the Tasks 834.4.1 The Grammaticality Judgment Task 84; 4.4.2 Story Writing Task 87; 4.4.3 Acceptability Judgment Task 88; 4.5 Scoring Method 89; 4.5.1 Grammaticality Judgment Task 89; 4.5.2 Storytelling Task 90; 4.5.3 Acceptability Judgment Task 92; Chapter 5 Results 97; 5.1 Introduction 97; 5.2 Grammaticality Judgment Task 97; 5.2.1 Counterparts of be in Cantonese 98; 5.2.2 Non-counterparts of be in Cantonese 101; 5.2.3 Optionality of be in Predication (temporary and permanent) in Cantonese 105.
5.2.4 Two Common problems reported in the literature: Overgeneralization of be and Substitution 1085.2.5 Inflection (IP) of the subjects 113; 5.3 Production Task (storywriting) 115; 5.3.1 Beginner Group 119; 5.3.2 Elementary Group 121; 5.3.3 Lower Intermediate Group 122; 5.3.4 Upper Intermediate Group 123; 5.3.5 Advanced Group 124; 5.3.6 Very advanced Group 124; 5.4 Acceptability Judgment Task 125; 5.4.1 Acceptable Habitual 125; 5.4.2 Unacceptable Progressive 128; 5.4.3 Acceptable Progressive 129; 5.4.4 Unacceptable Habitual 131; Chapter 6 Discussion and Conclusion 133; 6.1 Introduction 133.
6.2 The role of the L1 in the acquisition of be 1336.2.1 The role of the L1 in different initial state hypotheses 133; 6.2.2 Consistency of the findings with these theories 134; 6.2.3 Implications for the initial state hypotheses 146; 6.3 Knowledge and Performance 148; 6.3.1 Differences between Cantonese L2 learner English and native English with respect to tense: the production task 149; 6.3.2 Discrepancy between production data and knowledge data 150; 6.4 Pedagogical Implications 151; 6.4.1 Quantity of Instruction versus Proficiency Levels 152; 6.4.2 Possible Role of Instruction 155.
The present study examines grammaticality judgment data, production data and acceptability judgment data from 243 Cantonese second language learners and a control group of 12 native English speakers. Research areas concern (a) the role of the first language in the acquisition of be by Cantonese second language learners; (b) the question if properties associated with be remain persistently problematic for Cantonese speakers; (c) developmental stages of the acquisition of be; (d) the relationship between morphology and syntax; and (e) pedagogical implications. No published L2 research has attem.
2.4 The Cantonese equivalent of be: haih 412.4.1 How progressive be is expressed in Cantonese 41; 2.4.2 Syntactic Distribution of haih 42; 2.4.3 Functions of haih 45; 2.4.4 The underlying syntactic structure of constructions involving haih 50; 2.5 Comparison of English be and Cantonese haih 53; Chapter 3 Literature Review 57; 3.1 Introduction 57; 3.2 Summary of L2 morpheme studies 57; 3.3 Acquisition problems posed by be 65; 3.3.1 Possible Accounts for the Omission problem 69; 3.4 Research Questions 78; Chapter 4 Methodology 81; 4.1 Experiment 81; 4.2 Subjects 81; 4.3 Procedures 83.
4.4 Rationale for the Tasks 834.4.1 The Grammaticality Judgment Task 84; 4.4.2 Story Writing Task 87; 4.4.3 Acceptability Judgment Task 88; 4.5 Scoring Method 89; 4.5.1 Grammaticality Judgment Task 89; 4.5.2 Storytelling Task 90; 4.5.3 Acceptability Judgment Task 92; Chapter 5 Results 97; 5.1 Introduction 97; 5.2 Grammaticality Judgment Task 97; 5.2.1 Counterparts of be in Cantonese 98; 5.2.2 Non-counterparts of be in Cantonese 101; 5.2.3 Optionality of be in Predication (temporary and permanent) in Cantonese 105.
5.2.4 Two Common problems reported in the literature: Overgeneralization of be and Substitution 1085.2.5 Inflection (IP) of the subjects 113; 5.3 Production Task (storywriting) 115; 5.3.1 Beginner Group 119; 5.3.2 Elementary Group 121; 5.3.3 Lower Intermediate Group 122; 5.3.4 Upper Intermediate Group 123; 5.3.5 Advanced Group 124; 5.3.6 Very advanced Group 124; 5.4 Acceptability Judgment Task 125; 5.4.1 Acceptable Habitual 125; 5.4.2 Unacceptable Progressive 128; 5.4.3 Acceptable Progressive 129; 5.4.4 Unacceptable Habitual 131; Chapter 6 Discussion and Conclusion 133; 6.1 Introduction 133.
6.2 The role of the L1 in the acquisition of be 1336.2.1 The role of the L1 in different initial state hypotheses 133; 6.2.2 Consistency of the findings with these theories 134; 6.2.3 Implications for the initial state hypotheses 146; 6.3 Knowledge and Performance 148; 6.3.1 Differences between Cantonese L2 learner English and native English with respect to tense: the production task 149; 6.3.2 Discrepancy between production data and knowledge data 150; 6.4 Pedagogical Implications 151; 6.4.1 Quantity of Instruction versus Proficiency Levels 152; 6.4.2 Possible Role of Instruction 155.
The present study examines grammaticality judgment data, production data and acceptability judgment data from 243 Cantonese second language learners and a control group of 12 native English speakers. Research areas concern (a) the role of the first language in the acquisition of be by Cantonese second language learners; (b) the question if properties associated with be remain persistently problematic for Cantonese speakers; (c) developmental stages of the acquisition of be; (d) the relationship between morphology and syntax; and (e) pedagogical implications. No published L2 research has attem.
