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The Analysis of the L2 Performances of Turkish Speakers on the Island

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The Analysis of the L2 Performances of Turkish Speakers on the Island Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of Linguistics THE ANALYSIS OF THE L2 PERFORMANCES OF TURKISH SPEAKERS ON THE ISLAND CONSTRAINTS IN ENGLISH TO ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF THE INTERPRETABILITY HYPOTHESIS Sinan ÇAKIR A PhD Dissertation Ankara, 2014 THE ANALYSIS OF THE L2 PERFORMANCES OF TURKISH SPEAKERS ON THE ISLAND CONSTRAINTS IN ENGLISH TO ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF THE INTERPRETABILITY HYPOTHESIS Sinan ÇAKIR Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of Linguistics A PhD Dissertation Ankara, 2014 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My time at Hacettepe University has been influenced and guided by a number of people to whom I am deeply indebted. Without their help and support, this dissertation would never have been completed. Prof. Dr. IĢıl ÖZYILDIRIM, Prof. Dr. Deniz ZEYREK and Prof. Dr. Nalan BÜYÜKKANTARCIOĞLU have had the greatest impact on the preparation of this dissertation, so I thank them for their insights and guidance. I feel most fortunate to have worked with other committee members Prof. Dr. Özgür AYDIN and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selçuk ĠġSEVER. I also would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jason ROTHMAN, for his guidance and recommendations during the time I was in the University of Florida. Thanks are also due to all participants who contributed to my study willingly. I would also like to thank my true friend Arif BAKLA, who helped me constantly in the preparation of this dissertation. My thanks are also reserved for my colleagues in the Department of Linguistics in Hacettepe University. My deepest gratitude is reserved for my wife, Zeynep AYDIN ÇAKIR and my daughter, Elvin Cemre ÇAKIR. Without their constant love, support and encouragement, I would never have been able to produce this dissertation. iv ÖZET ÇAKIR, Sinan. Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımının Geçerliliğini Değerlendirmek Ġçin Ġngilizceyi Ġkinci Dil Olarak Edinen Türklerin Ġngilizcedeki Ada Kısıtlamaları Üzerindeki Performanslarının Ġncelenmesi, Doktora Tezi, Ankara, 2014. Evrensel Dilbilgisi ve ikinci dil edinimi arasındaki iliĢki üzerine geliĢtirilmiĢ son yıllarda öne çıkan varsayımlardan birisi Tsimpli ve diğerleri (2003), ve Tsimpli ve Dimitrakopoulou‟nun (2007) ortaya attığı Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımıdır. Bu varsayıma göre sadece yorumlanabilir özellikler ve ana dilde var olan yorumlanamayan özellikler ikinci dil edinimi için eriĢilebilir durumdadır. Bu varsayımı destekleyen (Hawkins ve Hattori, 2006; Al-Thubaiti, 2011, gibi) ya da bu varsayıma karĢı duruĢ sergileyen (Rothman ve diğerleri, 2010; Bond ve diğerleri, 2011, gibi) çok sayıda çalıĢma mevcuttur. Bir baĢka deyiĢle, bu konudaki tartıĢmalar henüz son bulmamıĢtır. Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımı üzerine yapılmıĢ mevcut çalıĢmaların hiçbiri Türkçe-Ġngilizce dil çifti üzerine odaklanmamıĢtır. Ġngilizcede var olan yorumlanamayan ne-özelliğinin Türk ikinci dil öğrenicileri tarafından edinim sürecinin incelenmesi bu konudaki tartıĢma üzerine yararlı veriler ortaya sunacaktır. Bu çalıĢma, Ġngilizceyi ikinci dil olarak edinen Türklerin Ġngilizcedeki ne-taĢıma sırasında ortaya çıkan ada kısıtlamaları üzerindeki performanslarını inceleyerek Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımının geçerliliğini değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. ÇalıĢmanın verileri bir dilbilgisellik değerlendirme testi, ne-sorusu oluĢturma testi ve Türkçeden Ġngilizceye çeviri testi vasıtasıyla toplanmıĢtır. Ġngilizce anadil konuĢucularından oluĢan bir kontrol grupla (N:58) beraber, yaĢadıkları ülkeye (ABD ya da Türkiye) ve Ġngilizce yeterlilik düzeylerine (Ġleri düzey yada orta düzey) göre dört öğrenici grubu çalıĢmaya dahil olmuĢtur (sırasıyla N:46, N:38, N:20, N:30). Toplanılan veriler Kruskal Wallis H Testi ve Mann Whitney U Testi vasıtasıyla istatistiksel olarak incelenmiĢtir. Hedef dilde doğal veriye maruz kalmıĢ ve bu dilde üst seviye yeterliliğe sahip ikinci dil öğrenicilerinin ada yapılarını fark etmede ve dilbilgisel tümceler üretmede Ġngilizce anadil konuĢucuları kadar baĢarılı olduğu gözlemlenmiĢtir. Türkçede yorumlanabilir olmayan güçlü ne özelliğinin (uwh*) var olmadığı dikkate alındığında, bu katılımcıların performansı onların hedef dildeki parametrik değerleri edindikleri ve yorumlanabilir olmayan güçlü ne özelliğinin (uwh*) ikinci dil edinimi için de edinilebilir olduğu sonucunu ortaya koymaktadır. Sonuç olarak çalıĢmanın bulguları Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımına karĢı çıkmakta ve Tam Transfer & Tam EriĢim Varsayımını desteklemektedir. ÇalıĢmanın bulguları ikinci dil edinimi sırasında doğal veriye maruz kalmanın önemini de vurgulamaktadır. Yapılan testlerin sonuçları, (uwh*) özelliğinin, sadece üst seviye Ġngilizce yeterliliğine sahip ve bu dilde doğal veriye maruz kalmıĢ ikinci dil öğrenicileri tarafından tam olarak edinilmiĢ olduğunu ortaya koymuĢtur. Bu açıdan, Evrensel Dilbilgisine eriĢim ve ikinci dil edinimi arasındaki v iliĢkiyi inceleyen çalıĢmaların doğal veriye maruz kalan bireyler üzerinde yürütülmesi gerekliliği ortaya çıkmaktadır. Anahtar Sözcükler Yorumlanabilirlilik Varsayımı, Ġkinci Dil Edinimi, Evrensel Dilbilgisi, Ada Kısıtlamaları vi ABSTRACT ÇAKIR, Sinan. The Analysis of the L2 Performances of Turkish Speakers on the Island Constraints in English to Assess the Validity of the Interpretability Hypothesis, A PhD Dissertation, Ankara, 2014. The Interpretability Hypothesis (Tsimpli et. al., 2003; Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou; 2007) claims that uninterpretable features which are not instantiated in L1 are unavailable for L2 acquisition. This hypothesis is supported (e.g. Hawkins and Hattori 2006; Al-Thubaiti, 2011) and opposed (e.g. Rothman et. al., 2010; Bond et. al. 2011) by many other studies, and this hypothesis is still hotly debated. In such studies, different language pairs should be extensively analyzed to reach at more concrete results. None of the recent studies that focus on Interpretability Hypothesis focus on Turkish-English language pairs. The acquisition process of the uninterpretable wh-feature in English by Turkish L2 learners of English might provide fruitful results for this debate. The present study aimed to analyze the validity of the Interpretability Hypothesis by analyzing the performances of the Turkish L2 leaners of English on island constraints on wh-movement in English. The data of the study were collected through a Grammaticality Judgment Test, Wh-Question Formation Test and Translation Test. Along with a native control group (N:58), four learner groups were formed according to the place they live (USA or Turkey) and their level of proficiency in English (advance or intermediate) (N:46, N:38, N:20, N:30 respectively). The data gathered were statistically analyzed by using two non-parametric tests: Kruskal-Wallis H Test and Mann-Whitney U Test. It was observed that L2 learners of English who are exposed to positive evidence in a naturalistic learning environment in the target language can deal with these island constraints as well as the native speakers of this language. Since their mother tongue lacks the uninterpretable strong wh-feature (uwh*), this result suggests that they have already acquired the necessary L2 parameter values, and this uninterpretable feature is available in their L2 acquisition process. Hence, the findings of the present study support the Full Transfer Full Access Hypothesis, standing against the Interpretability Hypothesis. The results of the study also emphasized the importance of positive evidence in L2 acquisition process. According to the results, the uninterpretable strong wh-feature (uwh*) appeared to be available only for the highly proficient L2 learner of English who are exposed to natural input in this language, yet not for the other group who acquired this language only in their home country. As the results of the study suggest, to assess the availability of UG in SLA precisely, such studies should be carried out on the participants who are exposed to natural input in the target language. vii Key Words Interpretability Hypothesis, Second Language Acquisition, Universal Grammar, Island Constraints viii TABLE OF CONTENTS KABUL VE ONAY ……………………......................................................................... i BİLDİRİM ………………………………………......................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………..................................................... iii ÖZET............................................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ……….…..………………........................................…......…...……….. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................... xv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………….…………. xviii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 1.1 . UG in L2 Acquisition ................................................................................. 1 1.2 . Studies on the Interpretability Hypothesis& Full Transfer Full Access Hypothesis Debate .............…….................................…………... 6 1.3 . Statement of the Problem …………..…......…………………………… 14 1.4 . The Purpose of the Study……………………………….…………….... 15 1.5 . The Research Questions ……………………………………………….. 18 1.6 . The Significance of the Study …………………………………….…… 18 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL CONCEPTS .........................................................
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