University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2010 CHINESE CLASSIFIER ACQUISITION: COMPARISON OF L1 CHILD AND L2 ADULT DEVELOPMENT Jiang Song Gong The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Gong, Jiang Song, "CHINESE CLASSIFIER ACQUISITION: COMPARISON OF L1 CHILD AND L2 ADULT DEVELOPMENT" (2010). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 192. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/192 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CHINESE CLASSIFIER ACQUISITION: COMPARISON OF L1 CHILD AND L2 ADULT DEVELOPMENT By JIANG SONG GONG B.A. in English education, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, 2002 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics, Applied Linguistics Option The University of Montana Missoula, MT May 2010 Approved by: Perry Brown, Associate Provost for Graduate Education Graduate School Dr. Tully Thibeau, Chair Linguistics Dr. Leora Bar-el Linguistics Dr. Cao Zhen Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures ABSTRACT Gong, Jiang Song, M.A., Spring 2010 Linguistics Chinese classifier acquisition: Comparison of L1 child and L2 adult development Chairperson: Dr. Tully Thibeau The context of this thesis is the long-debated issue of whether or not adult second language (L2) development is basically similar to child first language (L1) development. The thesis approaches the issue through research dealing with L1 acquisition of Chinese classifiers and a pilot study of L2 adult classifier acquisition. First, evidence that children acquire specific classifiers earlier than measure classifiers is discussed and explained in light of existing language learning theories. With the aim of providing comparable data regarding L2 adult classifier acquisition a pilot study was conducted in which nine adult English-speaking learners of Chinese were tested on their production of both specific and measure classifiers. The results show that L2 adults overgeneralized use of the general classifier ge in a way similar to L1 children, suggesting that both L1 and L2 learners are aware of the syntactic requirement for classifiers, but avoid semantic complexities related to shape and other perceptual features. Despite this apparent similarity, L2 adults differ from L1 children in that they develop measure classifiers more successfully than specific classifiers, indicating that the underlying process of classifier acquisition is influenced by L1 knowledge and cognitive maturation. Overall, these findings provide support for the argument that fundamental differences between L1 child and L2 adult acquisition exist, shed light on methods for successful classifier instruction, and open the door for further exploration into L2 development of classifier languages. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me in the process of preparing and writing this thesis. I would especially like to thank my professor and advisor, Dr. Tully Thibeau, for what he has taught me in my two years as a graduate student and for all of his help in developing the ideas in this thesis. He spent many long hours guiding me through challenging concepts and patiently suggesting improvements during the writing process; without him this thesis would not have been possible. The responsibility for my interest in Chinese classifiers lies with Dr. Leora Bar-el, who encouraged my research in this area from the beginning and led me in my first attempts to formulate my research interests and write about them. I am grateful for her guidance and insight. I would also like to thank Dr. Cao Zhen for the time he spent helping me prepare for this project, and his continuous support in designing and carrying out the pilot study. Each of the students who contributed their time as subjects in this research also deserves my gratitude. My fellow graduate students, especially Scott Sterling, also deserve thanks for giving me feedback and support throughout my time as a graduate student. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family for supporting me. Mom and my sister SiSi gave me great encouragement. Dad proofread my thesis and provided valuable advice. Finally, I want to thank my dearest husband. His love, patience, and trust have kept me going to finish this thesis. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF SYMBOLS ........................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................1 1.2 The debate: L1 and L2 language acquisition........................................................2 1.2.1 Similarities between L1 and L2 language acquisition .............................2 1.2.1.1 Early stage developmental patterns .............................................2 1.2.1.2 Systematic staged development...................................................4 1.2.1.3 Full access to Universal Grammar (UG) .....................................6 1.2.2 Differences between L1 and L2 language acquisition.............................8 1.2.2.1 The Critical Period Hypothesis....................................................9 1.2.2.2 The Fundamental Difference Hypothesis ..................................10 1.3 Chinese classifiers ..............................................................................................12 1.3.1 Value of studying Chinese classifiers.....................................................12 1.3.2 Overview of Chinese classifiers.............................................................13 1.3.3 L1 development of classifiers ................................................................15 1.3.4 L2 development of classifiers: the current pilot study...........................15 1.4 Outline of the thesis............................................................................................16 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF CHINESE CLASSIFIERS AND THEIR ACQUISITION ..17 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................17 2.2 Chinese classifier overview................................................................................17 2.2.1 The typology of Chinese classifiers .......................................................18 2.2.2 The properties of Chinese classifiers .....................................................20 2.2.3 The system of Chinese classifiers ..........................................................21 2.2.3.1 Two main categories: specific and measure ..............................22 2.2.3.2 Subgroups within these categories ............................................23 2.2.3.3 The general classifier ge ............................................................25 2.3 Distinguishing between specific and measure classifiers...................................26 2.3.1 In semantics............................................................................................26 2.3.2 In syntax.................................................................................................28 2.3.3 Open class and closed class ...................................................................30 2.4 L1 child acquisition of Chinese classifiers.........................................................32 2.4.1 Areas of general agreement....................................................................33 2.4.2 Emergence order of specific classifiers and measure classifiers ...........34 2.5 L2 adult acquisition of Chinese classifiers.........................................................36 2.5.1 Comparing learners with different L1s ..................................................37 iv 2.5.2 Significance and limitations of these two studies ..................................38 2.6 Research questions .............................................................................................38 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS OF L1 CHILD ORDER AND EXPECTATIONS FOR L2 ADULT ACQUISITION....................................................................................................40 3.1 Gaps in existing explanations of L1 acquisition.................................................40 3.2 Synopsis of early child language development ..................................................41 3.2.1 Universal semantics and universal semantic categories ........................41 3.2.2 Cognitive maturity and language development .....................................44