ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: an EXAMINATION of the INFLUENCE of AGE on L2 ACQUISITION of ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC P

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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: an EXAMINATION of the INFLUENCE of AGE on L2 ACQUISITION of ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC P ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON L2 ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC PATTERNS Written by: Jeansue Mueller, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 Directed by: Professor Nan Jiang Department of Second Language Acquisition A number of researchers (DeKeyser, 2012; J. S. Johnson & Newport, 1989; Long, 1990) have argued that age is a critical factor in second language acquisition. This conclusion is based on extensive research over the last two decades that has demonstrated age-related effects in learners’ nonnativelike acquisition of phonology, morphosyntax, pragmatics, and discourse-level features of language. In the wake of such findings, there has recently been an increased interest in determining the precise linguistic areas that are difficult for adult learners and the cognitive mechanisms implicated in age-related effects. Because implicit learning plays a key role in first-language (L1) acquisition, particularly in the acquisition of statistical patterns in language, it has been proposed that age effects may be the result of attenuated implicit learning capabilities in late-teen and adult learners (DeKeyser, 2000; Janacsek, Fiser, & Nemeth, 2012). If this is true, age-related effects should be significant in linguistic areas that are not readily amenable to conscious learning processes and explicit instruction. To determine whether this is in fact the case, this study examined the linguistic knowledge of native speakers (NSs), early L2 learners, and learners who acquired English as adults. In particular, it examined these groups’ knowledge related to an area of English that is hypothesized to be difficult to learn explicitly, namely, English sound-symbolic (SS) patterns. Participants were composed of English NSs (n = 20) and three NNS groups with L1 Korean and L2 of English. The NNS groups were divided into three groups based on age of onset (AO)1, with an AO range from 3 to 9 years of age (n = 20), 10 to 16 (n = 20), and > 17 (n = 20). Three experiments were performed that tested the participants’ English magnitude SS sensitivities when forming assumptions about nonce words (Experiment 1 and 2) and their ability to utilize English SS patterns to bootstrap their learning of new vocabulary (Experiment 3). The two late L2 learner groups (AO 10-16; 17+) were found to have significantly reduced levels of SS knowledge compared to the early L2 learners (AO 3-9) and NSs in all experiments. Only in Experiment 1 and 2, the early L2 learners had diminished magnitude SS sensitivities compared to NSs, but not for Experiment 3. Explicit and implicit aptitudes as measured by LLAMA (Meara, 2005) were also tested for potential relationships with test scores. Explicit aptitudes (LLAMA B, E, and F) did not have a significant effect on the performance of all AO groups, whereas implicit aptitude (LLAMA D) did have a moderate to strong correlation for test scores in only the two late learner groups. The early learner group was not affected by language aptitude levels during the experiments. 1 For the purposes of this dissertation, age of onset will be defined as “the age at which learners were first meaningfully exposed to the L2” (Granena & Long, 2013b, p. ix). In other words, the onset implies that the learner has considerable exposure to the L2, comparable in terms of both quality and quantity to the input received by the typical NSs. In sum, the study has found that there is evidence for SPE in the areas of magnitude and English phonesthemic SS patterns. Implicit language-learning aptitudes appeared to have a facilitative effect on the acquisition of these SS sensitivities for the two late L2 learner groups, but not for the early L2 learners. AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON L2 ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC PATTERNS By Jeansue Mueller Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Advisory Committee: Professor Nan Jiang, Chair Professor Robert DeKeyser Professor Shoko Hamano Professor Mike Long Professor Min Wang, Dean’s representative © Copyright by Jeansue Mueller ACKNOWLEDGEMENT There are many individuals who supported me throughout my doctoral journey. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of them. First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my advisor, Nan Jiang, for his fundamental role in my doctoral work. He provided me with every bit of guidance, assistance, and expertise I could wish for, despite the difficulties of venturing into the relatively uncharted research area of age effect in the acquisition of sound symbolism. His unwavering confidence in me was the foundation from which my dissertation was built. I also wish to thank my dissertation committee members for their encouragement and their constructive feedback of the research. I am privileged to have such distinguished scholars in my dissertation committee. I thank both Mike Long and Robert DeKeyser whose courses throughout the PhD program have had substantial influences on my research. I would like to thank Shoko Hamano for her invaluable feedback and her availability in spite of the many demands on her time. I would also like to thank Min Wang for her willingness to take on the role of the dean’s representative for my dissertation defense. Aside from my dissertation committee, I am grateful to Jared Linck, associate research scientist, university of Maryland CASL, for his valuable suggestions and concise comments on the second language aptitude research. I would like to extend my appreciation to many people who helped me during the intense data collection and preparation for the materials for this study. I give my ii sincere thanks to Korean religious community in Maryland who helped me with participant recruitment and data collection. I would like to express special thanks to Jisoo Kim at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea who provided me with technical support for stimuli preparation. Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family and friends. This dissertation would not have been possible without their warm love and endless support. And most of all, my loving, supportive, encouraging daughter, Maya, who showed the utmost patience in some difficult times during the final stages of this PhD, is truly appreciated. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………… ii Table of Contents................................................................................................................iv List of Tables.....................................................................................................................vii List of Figures.....................................................................................................................ix Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................................................1 1.1 Overview.....................................................................................................................1 1.2 Nonlinguistic and Linguistic Sensitive Periods..........................................................4 1.3 Defining the Sensitive Period Effect (SPE)................................................................6 1.4 Evidence for SPs on L1A, and L2A............................................................................9 1.4.1 Feral Children, Late Deaf L1A, and the SPH.......................................................9 1.4.2 L2A of Phonology and the SPH..........................................................................12 1.4.3 L2A of Morphosyntax and the SPH....................................................................16 1.4.4 L2A of Semantics and the SPH...........................................................................18 1.5 Arguments against the SPH......................................................................................19 1.6 Potential Explanatory Mechanisms Underlying Linguistic SPs...............................21 1.7 Attenuation of Implicit Learning Capabilities in Adults..........................................24 1.8 Language Aptitude and the SPH.........................................................................…..28 1.9 Aptitude Measure......................................................................................................33 Chapter 2: Sound Symbolism............................................................................................35 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….35 2.2 Korean Sound Symbolism........................................................................................42 2.3 English Sound Symbolism........................................................................................48 2.4 Mechanisms Underlying the Emergence of Sound Symbolism in Languages.........52 2.5 Verification of the Presence of Sound Symbolism in Language..............................58 2.6 Behavioral Studies of Sound Symbolism.................................................................60 2.7 L1 and L2 Acquisition of Sound Symbolism...........................................................68 Chapter 3: Overview of the Current Study.......................................................................75 iv 3.1 Purpose of the Study.................................................................................................75 3.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses........................................................................78
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