Acquisition of the constraints on wanna contraction by advanced second language learners: Universal grammar and imperfect knowledge

Autor:	Robert W. Bley-Vroman, Soo-Ok Kweon
Rok vydání:	2011
Předmět:	Linguistics and Language Computer science First language Universal grammar Emergent grammar Child language acquisition Grammaticality Imperfect Second language learners Linguistics Education
Zdroj:	Second Language Research. 27:207-228
ISSN:	1477-0326 0267-6583
DOI:	10.1177/0267658310375756
Popis:	Contraction of want to to wanna is subject to constraints that have been related to the operation of Universal Grammar. Contraction appears to be blocked when the trace of an extracted wh-word intervenes. Evidence for knowledge of these constraints by young English-speaking children has been taken to show the operation of Universal Grammar in early child language acquisition. The present study investigates knowledge of these constraints in adults, both English native speakers and advanced Korean learners of English. The results of three experiments — using elicited production, oral repair, and grammaticality judgments — confirmed native speaker knowledge of the constraints. A second process of phonological elision may also operate to produce wanna. Learners also showed some differentiation of contexts, but much less clearly than native speakers. We speculate that non-natives may be using rules of complement selection, rather than the constraints of Universal Grammar (UG) to control contraction.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::e9506e676d8fe3d36440172bd9617826 https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658310375756 Zobrazit plný text záznamu