The Acquisition of Locative Alternation: A Multiple Account

Dung Duc Chau, Huong Thi Linh Nguyen

Abstract


This article explores how Vietnamese EFL learners acquire locative alternation, focusing on three types of verbs. It aims to identify which locative structures are challenging for these learners and the underlying reasons. The study involved 72 participants, divided into two groups: an experimental group of 36 Vietnamese learners of English and a control group of 36 native English speakers, used as a benchmark for cross-group comparisons. The learners were classified as upper-intermediate based on their Michigan test scores and had to pass a Word-Meaning Matching Task to participate. All stimulus sentences were rated on a five-point Likert scale. The findings suggest that learning locative structures is a complex developmental process influenced by various factors such as overgeneralisation, verb meanings, learners' English proficiency, and narrow-range verb classes. These insights have significant implications for both teaching methods and SLA.

 

Keywords: Locative alternation; second language acquisition; overgeneralisation; language transfer; Vietnamese


Full Text:

PDF

References


Alotaibi, A. M. (2016). The acquisition of the English locative alternation by Kuwaiti EFL learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 5(1), 65-73. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.1p.65

Ambridge, B., Pine, J. M., Rowland, C. F., Freudenthal, D., & Chang, F. (2014). Avoiding dative overgeneralisation errors: semantics, statistics or both? Language, Cognition & Neuroscience, 29(2), 218-243. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2012.738300

Bley-Vroman, R., & Joo, H.-R. (2001). The acquisition and interpretation of English locative constructions by native speakers of Korean. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23(2), 207-219. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263101002042

Bley-Vroman, R., & Yoshinaga, N. (1992). Broad and narrow constraints on the English dative alternation: Some fundamental differences between native speakers and foreign language learners. University of Hawai'i Working Papers in ESL, 11(1), 157-199. University of Hawaii. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/38542

Braine, M. D. S., & Brooks, P. J. (1995). Verb argument structure and the problem of avoiding an overgeneral grammar. In M. Tomasello & W. E. Merriman (Eds.), Beyond names for things: Young children's acquisition of verbs (pp. 352-376). Erlbaum.

Bullock, G. (2004). The L2 acquisition of English locatives by Korean speakers. Second Language, 3, 49-68. https://doi.org/10.11431/secondlanguage2002.3.0_49

Choi, M.-H., & Lakshmanan, U. (2002). Holism and locative argument structure in Korean-English bilingual grammars. In B. Skarabela, S. Fish, & A. H.-J. Do (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th annual Boston University conference on language development (pp. 95-106). Cascadilla Press.

DeKeyser, R. M. (1993). The effect of error correction on L2 grammar knowledge and oral proficiency. The Modern Language Journal, 77(4), 501-514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1993.tb01999.x

Ellis, N. C., & Robinson, P. (2008). An introduction to cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition, and language instruction. In P. Robinson & N. C. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition (pp. 3-24). Routledge.

Goldberg, A. (1995). A Construction Grammar approach to argument structure. The University of Chicago Press.

Hismanoglu, M., & Hismanoglu, S. (2011). Task-based language teaching: what every EFL teacher should do. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 46-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.049

Hovav, M. R., & Levin, B. (2008). The English dative alternation: The case for verb sensitivity. Journal of Linguistics, 44(1), 129-167. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226707004975

Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of language: brain, meaning, grammar, evolution. Oxford University Press.

Jarvis, S., & Pavlenko, A. (2008). Crosslinguistic influence in language and cognition. Routledge.

Joo, H.-R. (2003). Second language learnability and the acquisition of the argument structure of English locative verbs by Korean speakers. Second Language Research, 19(4), 305-328. https://doi.org/10.1191/0267658303sr225oa

Juffs, A. (1996). Semantics-syntax correspondences in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 12(2), 177-221. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200203

Kim, M. (1999). A crosslinguistic perspective on the acquisition of locative verbs [Doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware]. Colin Phillips. http://www.colinphillips.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/kim1999.pdf

Laffut, A., & Davidse, K. (2002). English locative constructions: An exercise in neo-Firthian description and dialogue with other schools. Functions of Language, 9(2), 169-207. https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.9.2.04laf

Lee, J. S. (2009). The acquisition of English locative constructions by native speakers of Korean: Pragmatic competence or syntactic incompetence? Indiana Undergraduate Journal of Cognitive Science, 4, 3-16. https://www.semanticscholar.org

Levin, B. (1993). English verb classes and alternations: A preliminary investigation. University of Chicago Press.

Levin, B., & Hovav, M. R. (1991). Wiping the slate clean: A lexical semantic exploration. Cognition, 41(1-3), 123-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90034-2

Mitchell, R., & Myles, F. (2004). Second language learning theories (2nd ed.). Hodder Arnold.

Moutsou, E. (2008). Michigan ECCE practice tests plus. MM Publications.

Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.

Park, S. H. (2016). L2 acquisition of Korean locative construction by English L1 speakers: Learnability problem in Korean figure non-alternating verbs. In J. C. Park & J.-W. Chung (Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (pp. 493-500). Seoul, South Korea: Institute for the Study of

Language and Information at Kyung Hee University.

Pinker, S. (2013). Learnability and cognition, new edition: The acquisition of argument structure. MIT Press.

Rezai, M. J., & Avand, S. (2011). The acquisition of English locative constructions by Persian speakers: Syntax-semantic interface. The Iranian EFL Journal, 7(4), 255-273. https://www.academia.edu/1316270

San Phoon, H., & Abdullah, A. C. (2014). Oral Vocabulary as a Predictor of English Language Proficiency among Malaysian Chinese Preschool Children. 3L, Language, Linguistics, Literature, 20(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2014-2001-11

Schachter, J. (1992). A new account of language transfer. In S. M. Gass & L. Selinker (Eds.), Language transfer in language learning: Revised edition (Vol. 5, pp. 32-46). John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.5.05sch

Shojamanesh, V., Hua, T. K., & Salehuddin, K. (2018). The Temporal role in Grammatical Performance of Foreign Language Learners of English. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 24(4). https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2018-2404-05

VanPatten, B., & Benati, A. G. (2015). Key terms in second language acquisition. Bloomsbury Publishing.

VanPatten, B., & Williams, J. (2015a). Early theories in SLA. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 17-33). Routledge.

VanPatten, B., & Williams, J. (2015b). Introduction: The nature of theories. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. (2nd ed., pp. 1-16). Routledge.

Yakhabi, M., Lotfi, A. R., & Biria, R. (2018). Locative constructions in English interlanguage: A study of the acquisition of argument realisation in English by Iranian EFL Learners. Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English, 7(1), 99-125. http://www.iaujournals.ir/article_666434.html

Yi, E., & Koenig, J.-P. (2016). Why verb meaning matters to syntax. In J. Fleischhauer, A. Latrouite, & R. Osswald (Eds.), Explorations of the Syntax-Semantics Interface (pp. 57-76). Düsseldorf University Press.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2025-3101-15

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157