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Grammatical Development Among Chinese L2 Learners: from a Processability Account

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Grammatical Development Among Chinese L2 Learners: from a Processability Account Grammatical Development among Chinese L2 Learners: From a Processability Account School of Education, Communication, and Language Sciences Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Newcastle University in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated) Xiaojing Wang (Queen) July, 2011 Declaration I certify that this thesis which I now submit for examination of the award of Integrated Doctor of Philosophy (IPh.D.) is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. This thesis was prepared according to the regulations for a postgraduate research study at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, and has not been submitted in whole or in part for another degree in any other universities. The work reported in this thesis conforms to the principles and requirements of the University’s guidelines for ethics in research. Signature: … Xiaojing Wang (Queen) …………….. Date: …… 10 th Nov, 2011 ……………….. i Acknowledgement I would like to express my very great appreciation to both Professor Manfred Pienemann and Professor Florence Myles. Their valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and development of this research work were of great help. My two supervisors also played an essential role in the entire research process, as their thoughts provided me with a stimulating intellectual environment. Also, their fabulous knowledge and experience has guided me in the right direction and offered constant encouragement. In particular, Professor Pienemann’s willingness to give his time so genero usly has been very much appreciated. It was a fortuitous circumstance that I could pursue my interest under his guidance. Furthermore, I would like to thank the staffs from the School of Modern Language at Newcastle University, who enabled me to contact my research participants. Also, I want to offer my special thanks to the voluntary subjects who participated in my research, for the contribution of their time and their assistance in the data collection. I also would like to acknowledge the contribution from the other seven students, who anonymously provided Chinese language data in my pilot study. In the end, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my grateful thanks to my parents, Ao Wang and Qin Wang, and other family members, as without their support, I cannot have completed this piece of research on time. ii Abstract This study is to investigate the second language acquisition of Chinese grammatical structures by eight Chinese L2 learners. Adopting the theoretical framework of Professor Manfred Pie nemann’s Processability Theory (PT), this study focuses on the confirmation and extension of the developmental sequence of the grammatical items found by Zhang (2001 and 2008) and Gao (2005). In essence, this study employed a longitudinal and cross-sectional design. Eight Chinese L2 students from the undergraduate Chinese programme at Newcastle University have been voluntarily selected to join my study. These eight students have a variety of language learning experience and backgrounds, but most importantly (different from other PT-based studies), they have been taught using a completely different textbook and curriculum when compared with the PT-driven developmental sequence. The interviews (elicitation tasks and free talk) were carried out on a regular basis over one academic year. Data was then transcribed and grammatical features tagged. Data analysis was performed through distributional analysis which detailed the linguistic environment of each grammatical item across the PT stages. Emergence criterion has been stipulated and applied to locate the acquisition point of each form. At the same time, a further textbook analysis has been conducted to identify the relationship between the instructions and natural acquisition stages. The resul ts have shown that the overall grammatical progression in the subjects’ interlanguage was compatible with the processing hierarchy hypothesized in the PT, regardless of the learners’ first language and language learning experience. Moreover, the acquisition patterns are never altered by the teaching instruction; instead, the acquisition speed has been somehow influenced by the teaching instruction and other factors. One issue iii which should be addressed is the exceptional cases identified in the study, which require further work in this area. Apart from that, the research has also shown that the adequate tasks are required in language teaching and grammatical structure elicitation. Therefore, four tasks have been designed and tested across the proposed Chinese processing hierarchy for the benefit of Chinese L2 learners. iv List of Abbreviations ADJ: Adjective ADV: Adverb ASP: Aspect (marker) ATT: Attributive CL: Classifier COMP: Complement CSL: Chinese as a second language DC: Complement of degree DMTH: Developmental Moderated Transfer Hypothesis ESL: English as a second language EXP: Experiential (marker) FT/FA: Full transfer, full access GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education HSK: Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese proficiency test) IL: Interlanguage IP: Imperatives L1: First language L2: Second language LFG: Lexical Functional Grammar LOC: Location MM : Multidimensional Model N: Noun NP: Noun phrase v NUM: Number OAC: Open Access Centre OBJ: Object PCL: Particle PERF: Perfective (marker) POSS: Possessive (marker) PRES: Present tense PRED: Predicate PRO: Pronoun PROG: Progressive (marker) PT: Processability Theory RC: Relative clause (Complement of Result) SF: Sentence-final SLA: Second language acquisition SPEC: Specifier SUBJ: Subject SVO: Subject + Verb + Object T/TOPI: Topic TBLT: Task-based Language Teaching TTR: Type-token ratio UG: Universal Grammar V: Verb VF: Verb-final VP: Verb phrase XP: X-phrase vi List of Tables Table 2.1 ESL Processing Procedures .................................................................................. 10 Table 2.2 Processing Hierarchy and Grammatical Development ........................................ 19 Table 2.3 Processing Procedures Applied to Japanese ........................................................ 22 Table 3.1 Variety of Topicalization in Chinese ................................................................... 56 Table 4.1 Acquisition Stage of 22 Chinese Structures among CSL Learners ....................... 72 Table 4.2 The Topic Hypothesis of L2 Syntax ..................................................................... 74 Table 4.3 Chinese Grammatical Development in PT .......................................................... 80 Table 4.4 Summary of the New Zealand and China Study ................................................... 83 Table 4.5 Chinese Grammatical Development in PT in Gao (2005) ................................... 84 Table 4.6 Comparison of Zhang (2001), Zhang (2 008) and Gao’s (2005 ) Studies ................ 84 Table 4.7 Findings of Zhang (2001), Zhang (2008) and Gao’s (2005) Studies ...................... 85 Table 4.8 Account of Updated PT Stages in Chinese ....................................................... 86/91 Table 5.1 Task Variety ....................................................................................................... 107 Table 5.2 Overview of Tasks ............................................................................................. 108 Table 5.3 Task Dimensions ................................................................................................. 111 Table 5.4 Data Statistics ..................................................................................................... 117 Table 6.1 Marlene’s Acquisition Route .............................................................................. 134 Table 6.2 Marlene’s Language Production ......................................................................... 135 Table 6.3 Joe’s Language Production ................................................................................. 139 Table 6.4 Fran’s Acquisition Route .................................................................................. 141 vii Table 6.5 Fran’s Language Production ............................................................................... 141 Table 6.6 Harry’s Acquisitio n Route ................................................................................ 143 Table 6.7 Harry’s Language Production ........................................................................... 143 Table 6.8 Scott’s Language Production ............................................................................ 146 Table 6.9 Catriona’s Language Production ........................................................................ 146 Table 6.10 Updated PT Stages in CSL 2 ............................................................................ 149 Table 6.11 Further Updated PT Stages in CSL ................................................................... 153 Table 6.12 All Partici pants’ Acquisition Statuses of CSL on Wk12 .................................. 154 Table 6.13 CSL Textbook in Canberra University (New Practical Chinese Reader 1)......... 158 Table 6.14 CSL Textbook in Newcastle University (Integrated Chinese 1) ......................... 159 Table 6.15 Comparison between Teaching Route and Acquisition Profile .......................... 161 Table 6.16 CSL Textbook (Han
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