Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Yazd University
2 English department, Yazd Uni.
3 English Dept. Faculty of Foreign Languages Yazd University Yazd IRAN
4 Yazd University,Department of English language and literature
Abstract
This study aims to identify the role of transfer in the L3 acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs, be it L1, L2 or both; to determine whether CLI occurs on a feature-by-feature basis or as a wholesale phenomenon; to investigate the influence of the learners' L2 proficiency on the L3 acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs; and to examine the effect of different task modalities on the facilitative/detrimental role of background languages in the transfer of indefinite frequency adverbs in the early stages of German learning. To this end, we studied 30 Persian-speaking L3 German learners with previous L2 knowledge of English. We collected data from a grammaticality judgement task to account for learners' receptive knowledge and an element rearrangement task to measure learners' production. The data were analyzed using multivariate tests and paired samples t-tests, which allowed us to estimate the effects of background languages, learners' L2 proficiency, and task type on the acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs. The results contradicted the wholesale CLI and supported the CEM and LPM, which claim that transfer occurs property by property. The results also refuted the role of learners' L2 proficiency and task type.
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