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The Acquisition of Japanese As a Second Language and Processability Theory: a Longitudinal Study of a Naturalistic Child Learner

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The Acquisition of Japanese As a Second Language and Processability Theory: a Longitudinal Study of a Naturalistic Child Learner Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2006 The Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language and Processability Theory: A Longitudinal Study of a Naturalistic Child Learner Junko Iwasaki Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the First and Second Language Acquisition Commons Appendix C removed for copyright reasons. Pages 338-353. Recommended Citation Iwasaki, J. (2006). The Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language and Processability Theory: A Longitudinal Study of a Naturalistic Child Learner. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/73 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/73 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. The acquisition of Japanese as a second language and Processability Theory: A longitudinal study of a naturalistic child learner Junko Iwasaki A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Community Services, Education and Social Sciences, Edith Cowan University. December 2004 ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinally how a child learner acquired verbal morpho-syntax in Japanese in a naturalistic second language (L2) context. Specifically the points of emergence for three verbal morpho-syntactic structures, namely verbal inflection, the V-te V structure and the passive/causative structure, were investigated within a framework of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998b). The subsequent development of these structures was also examined. Unlike earlier research about morpheme orders and developmental sequences in language acquisition which was criticised because of its apparent lack of theoretical underpinnings, Pienemann’s Processability Theory (PT)(1998b) connects the processability of morpho-syntactic structure to linguistic theories. Pienemann also claims that this theory can be used to explain the acquisition of a wide range of morpho-syntactic structures and that it is typologically plausible and applicable to any language. In recent times PT has been extensively tested in a range of languages acquired as an L2, including German, English and Swedish (Pienemann, 1998b; Pienemann & Håkansson, 1999) and Italian and Japanese (Di Biase & Kawaguchi, 2002). The findings from these studies support this theory. Following the acquisition criteria proposed by Pienemann (1998b), the current study analyses the points of emergence of verbal morpho-syntactic structures by a seven year old Australian boy who was acquiring Japanese as a second language (JSL) naturalistically. Data were collected through audio taping approximately 90 minute interactions between the child and other Japanese speakers at each of the 26 sessions over a one-year and nine month period. The task-based elicitation method was used to create as spontaneous interaction as possible between the child and his interlocutors. ii The results of the study clearly indicate that a developmental sequence of acquisition of verbal morho-syntax does exist in the interlanguage of the naturalistic child learner of JSL, just as has been found with adult learners of JSL. The child acquired the three structures in the order of verbal inflection > the V-te V structure > the passive/causative structure as hypothesised by Di Biase and Kawaguchi (2002), thus following the acquisition order of the L2 processes predicted in PT, i.e., lexical > phrasal > interphrasal. Therefore, the findings of this study provide further support for the applicability of PT to the acquisition of JSL, not only by adult learners, but also by a child learner. The results of the current study contribute not only to second language acquisition (SLA) theory, but also to pedagogical development in JSL. Firstly, the results of the current study indicate that both the instructed adult learners and the uninstructed child learner of JSL acquired the three verbal morpho-syntactic structures in the same order, confirming that the availability of instruction does not affect the developmental sequence of these structures as suggested in Pienemann (1984, 1987, 1998b). Secondly, there was some discrepancy in the internal order of the acquisition of verbal affixes found between the results of the current study and those of studies by Di Biase and Kawaguchi (2002). This suggests that it may be possible that JSL teachers can differentiate the points of emergence for verbal affixes through instruction according to the age or needs of learners. iii DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference in made in the text; or (iii) contain any defamatory material. Signature: ____________________ Date: ____________________ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I truly feel blessed with all the people who have helped me along the way towards the completion of this project. I know deep in my heart that without these people I would not have been able to accomplish it. I am very grateful to the following people who provided me with various forms of support while I was involved in the project for the past six years. To people at Edith Cowan University: First of all, to Associate Professor Rhonda Oliver, who inspired me to undertake a PhD, and who offered continuous support and encouragement to me at all stages of the project, which was an enjoyable but very long laborious process. I have always been a person who likes a challenge, but I often could not see an end point for the thesis writing. Rhonda was an excellent supervisor who always motivated and stimulated me with her resources. She also made me feel positive and confident by giving me thoughtful and practical advice at the times when I struggled, faced difficulties, and was frustrated at my slow progress. Among many things I learned from working with her, are the joys of research, decision making, perseverance and having a positive attitude. She is my model as a researcher, a supervisor, a mentor and a friend. To Dr Yvonne Haig who spent enormous time proof reading my final draft and helping me get it right. Her useful comments and valuable assistance were very much appreciated. To Dr Judith Rochecouste, I am grateful for her linguistic expertise which helped me understand this aspect of my thesis. To Associate Professor Graham McKay, who always encouraged me to try out new ideas in research and also cared about me trying to balance my work and study. There are also other nice people at ECU, who contributed to the completion v of my project in different ways. I thank Rivka Nistein for her IT advice and people at Graduate school for their administrative assistance. To friends in the eastern states: To Satomi Kawaguchi and Yuki Itani-Adams who patiently helped me understand the Processability Theory in a Japanese setting via interstate phone calls and emails. Had it not been for their help, the scope of this thesis would have been much narrower. Knowing these people opened up my eyes to Pienemann’s world. Satomi and Yuki, I am looking forward to hitting an “uchiage” party to celebrate the completion of our PhDs together at the next conference on Processability, Bilingual and First Language in Melbourne in 2005. Thanks also go to Yumiko Yamaguchi, who has been my long-time “classmate” since we were taught by Professor Mike Long at UWA, for discussion of various issues on second language acquisition. All the best for your embarking on a PhD in a similar research area. To two professors outside Edith Cowan University: I would like to thank Professor Mike Long for his useful advice regarding data collection methodology which was given to me on an earlier stage of the project. I am also thankful to Professor Manfred Pienemann for his valuable comments on the paper that I presented at a UWS seminar. To Shaun and his family: I know two Shauns: One is a grown-up 13-year-old bilingual boy who now goes to an Australian high school, and the other a forever seven-year-old “genkina”, adorable and mischievous boy who giggles, laughs and sometimes tries to cheat by going under the table to look at the other picture when playing games. The seven-year-old Shaun always popped up here and there around my study desk when I was transcribing tapes, undertaking analysis and writing the thesis. I had a very strange feeling of always being with the seven-year-old Shaun whenever I was sitting in my study during the last few years. In reality, the other Shaun who occasionally visits to have a chat with me is already a big boy and is a very special person to me.
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