Universal Grammar and the Initial State of Second Language Learning: Evidence of Chinese Multidialectal Children's Acquisition of English at the Synta

ISBN-13: 9789811524516 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 76 str.

Weifeng Han

Spis treści

Contents

1   Introduction

References

2   Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition

2.1 UG and L2 learning

2.2 The L2 initial state

References

3   Cross-Linguistic Transfer and Second Language Learnability

3.1 Positive and negative cross-linguistic transfer

3.2 Cross-linguistic transfer and L2 syntactic development delays

References

4   Syntax-Semantics Interface and the Form-Meaning Mismatch Between L1 and L2

4.1 Syntax-semantics interface

4.2 The form-meaning mismatch between L1 and L2

4.3 Sentence grammaticality and acceptability

4.4 Semantic role

4.5 A theoretical dilemma

References

5   Chinese as the L1 in L2 Learning

5.1 Chinese and Chinese dialects

5.1.1 Phonology

5.1.2 Vocabulary

5.1.3 Writing

5.1.4 Syntax

5.2 Terminological issues of “Chinese” as the L1

References

6   Chinese Multidialectal Child Learners’ Acquisition of English at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

6.1 The L2 syntax-semantics interface awareness study

6.1.1 Purpose

6.1.2 Participants

6.1.3 The sentence-picture matching task

6.1.4 Results

6.2 Discussion

6.2.1 Preliminary considerations

6.2.2 UG access and the L2 initial state in cL2A

6.2.3 Cross-linguistic transfer at the syntax-semantics interface

6.2.4 Abstract representation in L2

6.2.5 Language distance and L2 learning

6.2.6 Multi-competence and input in L2 learning

6.2.7 The demographic factors in L2 learning

References

7   Conclusion

References

O autorze

​Dr Weifeng Han currently lectures on linguistics and phonetics in speech pathology at Flinders University in South Australia. His teaching and research interests encompass what and how linguistics may contribute to what SLPs need for practice in multilingual and multicultural contexts. He is currently working on a series of projects investigating how the ability to use multiple dialects in the first language may affect the learning of English as a second language among Chinese child learners, and how this will have implications for speech and language diagnosis and assessment. He is an expert on the application of mixed methods in data analysis and discussion.

Blurb

Under the Universal Grammar (UG) framework, this book discusses the latest research on the role of L1 bidialectism in L2 acquisition, with a particular focus on early Chinese(L1)-English(L2) learners. Responding to the long-standing concern of whether L2 learners have access to UG in the target language, it provides evidence of the positive role of L1 multidialectism in L2 learning and confirms the role of UG in L2 acquisition. This book is essential reading for postgraduates and researchers in language education, linguistics, applied linguistics, speech-language pathology and psychology. The clarification of Chinese as L1 is also of interest to language educators in multilingual contexts.