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The Effects of Linguistic Environment on the Second Language Acquisition of Grammatical Rules
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Abstract:
This paper is intended to contribute to the growing literature on second language variability. It reports the results of a study of morphological variability. Longitudinal data collected over two years from three children learning English as a second language in a classroom setting were used to investigate to what extent the acquisition of third person -s of main verbs and copula -s was influenced by linguistic context. The study lends support to the hypothesis that the distribution of grammatical variants in learner speech is sensitive to linguistic context. Two of the subjects produced target language variants of the two structures more consistently after pronoun subjects than after subjects containing a noun. The learners also acquired the target language variants in ‘pronoun contexts’ before ‘noun contexts’. The study also provides some evidence to suggest that learners who appear to have ‘acquired’ a particular feature may not in fact have done so if the criterion of acquisition is the ability to conform to the variable norms of a native speaker.
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Keyword:
Articles
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URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/9.3.257 http://applij.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/9/3/257
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Can Syntax be Taught? A Study of the Effects of Formal Instruction on the Acquisition of WH Questions by Children
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