Ali Akbar Jabbari; Mohammad Javad Rezaie
Volume 4, Issue 9 , December 2012, , Pages 33-61
Abstract
This project investigates the relationship between lexical semantics and causative morphology in the acquisition of causative/inchoative-related verbs in English as a foreign language by Iranian speakers. Results of translation and picture judgment task show although L2 learners ...
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This project investigates the relationship between lexical semantics and causative morphology in the acquisition of causative/inchoative-related verbs in English as a foreign language by Iranian speakers. Results of translation and picture judgment task show although L2 learners have largely acquired the correct lexico-syntactic classification of verbs in English, they were constrained by the morphological patterns of their first language (L1) when learning zero morphology, especially with causative/inchoative verbs. Results also show the lack of the learners' proficiency level in all causative/inchoative contexts and in almost all contexts in grammatical judgment task.The transitivity errors documented are analogous to the overgeneralization errors reported in the L1 and L2 acquisition literature of English and other languages. In this study, we also suggest that L2 learners are atuned to the rich morphology of Persian and that the acquisition of derivational morphology and lexical semantics are not dissociated in these interlanguage grammars.
Ali Akbar Jabbari; Leila Arghavan
Volume 2, Issue 217 , October 2010, , Pages 69-109
Abstract
This study accounts for the acquisition of the consonant clusters of English syllable structures both in onset and coda positions by Persian EFL learners. Persian syllable structure is "CV(CC)", composed of one consonant at the initial position and two optional consonants at the final position; whereas ...
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This study accounts for the acquisition of the consonant clusters of English syllable structures both in onset and coda positions by Persian EFL learners. Persian syllable structure is "CV(CC)", composed of one consonant at the initial position and two optional consonants at the final position; whereas English syllable structure is "(CCC)V(CCCC)". Therefore, Persian EFL learners need to resolve the conflict between what they know (L1), and what they are learning (L2). Optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993) claims that the knowledge of language consists of the universal set of structural descriptions and a language-particular ranking of constraints. It provides an explicit account for not only why learners have difficulty with specific EFL structures but also how they resolve it. 40 participants of two levels of English proficiency participated in this study. The data were collected via two tasks. The first task was a sound comprehension test and the second was a production test. The analyzed data revealed that all the learners had difficulties in performing initial consonant clusters in English; however, the lower level learners significantly had more deficiencies. It is worth mentioning that those coda clusters composed of more than two consonants are more difficult than those composed of only two consonants. This study also revealed that epenthesis was more frequent in onset positions while deletion and substitution were more frequent in coda positions. Based on the findings of the study, English instructors and material developers can estimate the degree of difficulty of consonant clusters and provide the needed time and material for teaching them.
