complex wh-questions in native and non-native grammars: acceptability judgements at the...

Complex wh-questions in native and non-native grammars:

acceptability judgements at the quality/quantity crossroads

Juana M. Liceras, Anahí Alba de la Fuente, Lia Walsh and Miroslav Slowik

GURT 20121

University of Ottawa

University of Ottawa

[http://artsites.uottawa.ca/larlab/]

Colleagues: J. Esleben, R. Fernández Fuertes, L. Sabourin, M. Tercedor Sánchez, C. Fonseca

Undergraduate Students: M. Fellman

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

[SSHRC #410-2004-2034]

Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology [HUM2007-62213]

GURT 20122

Research Project:

Language Acquisition Research Lab

Three types of complex wh-questions

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L2 English [-Scope/-Copy]

• L1 Japanese • L1 Basque• L1 German and L1 Japanese• L1 French and L1 Bulgarian• L1 Spanish

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Complex wh-questions in aL2 grammars

Scope and Copy exist in natural languages, thus when neither obvious transfer nor input explain why L2 English learners accept and produce them, UG is called upon.

BUT…(i) Scope and Copy have only been found in experimental data, not in spontaneous data.(ii) Scope and Copy have only been produced and accepted by speakers with a low level of proficiency.

SO… Do other non-native grammars depict wh-Scope

and wh-Copy? GURT 20125

Accounting for wh-Scope and wh-Copy in aL2

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Accounting for wh-Scope and wh-Copy in aL2

THE STUDY

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General description

L1 English-French- Spanish [+input, -transfer]

L2 German

L1 Czech [+input, +transfer]

L1 English-French [-input, -transfer]

L2 Spanish

L1 Czech [-input, +transfer]

• Quantity: L2GE vs. L2SP• Quality: L2GE vs. L1 GE / L2SP vs. L1SP

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Complex wh-questions: more aL2 data:[+/-Input] • [+/-Transfer] • Scaled GJs

aL2 GERMAN

• What is the status of the three question types in the L2 grammars?

• Will Scope and Copy wh-questions show a pattern of acceptance in the L2German of English, French and Spanish speakers similar to that of L1

Germanspeakers, the control group, even if formal input is not provided in the

classroom?

L2 input L1 transferL2 German / L1 English, French, Spanish + —

• Will Scope wh-questions show a different pattern of acceptance in theL2 German of L1 Czech speakers if besides input, there is transfer from

Czech?

L2 input L1 transferL2 German / L1 Czech. + +

GURT 20129

Research questions

aL2 SPANISH• What is the status of the three question types on the L2

grammars?

• Will Scope and Copy wh-questions show a pattern of rejection in the L2 Spanish of English and French speakers similar to that of L1 Spanish speakers, the control group, given that neither Scope nor Copy are possible in Spanish?

L2 input L1 transfer

L2 Spanish / L1 English-French. — —

• Will Scope wh-questions show a different pattern of rejection in the L2 Spanish of L1 Czech speakers due to transfer from Czech?

L2 input L1 transfer

L2 Spanish / L1 Czech. — +GURT 201210

Research questions

L2 German experimental groups

• L2 German / L1 English-French-Spanish. Advanced level (institutional placement). University of Ottawa, CanadaN=19.

• L2 German / L1 Czech. Advanced level (institutional placement). University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.N=21.

GURT 201211

Study: participants

L2 Spanish experimental groups

• L2 Spanish / L1 English-French. Advanced level (institutional placement). University of Ottawa, CanadaN=18.

• L2 Spanish / L1 Czech. Advanced level (institutional placement). University of Ostrava, Czech RepublicN=22.

GURT 201212

Study: participants

Control groups

• L1 German (Native German Control). N=16 [6 living in Canada and 4 living in Spain and 6

living inGermany]

• L1 Spanish (Native Spanish Control). N=20 [10 living in Spain and 10 living in Canada].

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Study: participants

Design1 context for Long-Distance, Scope and Copy.

96 contexts as follows.

8 sentences for each context.

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Study: Scaled Grammaticality Judgment Task

To think To say To believe

SU (8) (8) (8) 24

DO (8) (8) (8) 24

When (8) (8) (8) 24

Where (8) (8) (8) 24

TOTAL 96

4 sentence contextsx 3 verbs= 12 contexts

ADJUNCT – WHEREJohn: Arthur always studies in the cafeteria.Beth: And does that bother you?John: Well, I think that he should study at the library.

L-D:Where does John think that Arthur should study? [LIST A]

SCOPE: What does John think where Arthur should study? [LIST B]

COPY: Where does John think where Arthur should study? [LIST C]

1 = completely unacceptable, sounds strange

3 = relatively unacceptable, but not completely5 = uncertain, cannot decide7 = relatively acceptable, but not as good as (9)9 = completely acceptable, sounds natural

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Study: Scaled Grammaticality Judgment Task

#1 L2 German — L1 English/French/Spanish: [+input / —transfer]

— If input (without instruction) plays a role, Scope and Copy constructions will be accepted in this L2 grammar.

#2 L2 German — L1 Czech: [+input / +transfer]

— If both transfer and input play a role, Scope constructions will be more accepted in this L2 grammar than in the L1 English/French/Spanish based grammar.

#3 L1 German (Control group)

—Scope and Copy wh-questions will be accepted by L1 German speakers.

We assume the acceptance of L-D in all grammars, as they are grammatical in all of the languages in question.

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Study: Hypotheses

#4 L2 Spanish — L1 English/French: [-input / -transfer]

—Since neither input nor transfer will play a role, the L2 Spanish of French and English speakers should depict very few instances of Scope and Copy.

#5 L2 Spanish — L1 Czech: [-input / +transfer]

—If transfer plays a role, the L2 Spanish of Czech speakers will contain more instances of Scope than the L2 Spanish of French and English speakers.

#6 L1 Spanish (Control group)

—Only Long-Distance wh-questions (neither Scope nor Copy constructions) will be accepted by L1 Spanish speakers.

We assume the acceptance of L-D in all grammars, as they are grammatical in all of the languages in question.

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Study: Hypotheses

L1 German

• ANOVA: Main effect for question type. The differences are significant. F (2,30)= 20.966 p= .000.

• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —No significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= .153)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .001)—Significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .000)

GURT 201218

Results: German

L2 German – L1 English/French/Spanish


• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —No significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= 1.000)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .001)—Significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .001)

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Results: German

L2 German – L1 Czech


• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —No significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= .153)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .001)—Significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .000)

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Results: German

• ANOVA: Main effect for question type. The differences are significant. F (2,106)= 51.961 p= .000. No significant interaction between group and question type. F (4,106)= 1.285 p= .281. No main effect for group. The differences are not significant. F (2,53)= 1.033 p= .363.

• Group comparisons (Multivariate ANOVA). Significant differences for Scope. F (2,53)= 3.771 p= .029

• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —Significant differences between L1ENSP and L1GER for Scope (p= .031)

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Results: German

• What is the status of the three question types in the L2 grammars?Scope is very much accepted, even more than L-D by both the L1 GERMAN and the L1 CZECH group.

• Will Scope and Copy wh-questions show a pattern of acceptance in the L2 German of English, French and Spanish speakers similar to that of L1 German speakers, the control group, even if formal input is not provided in the classroom?Copy is very much rejected by the L1 English-French-Spanish group, as expected. The high rate of rejection by the L1 German group was not expected.

• Will Scope wh-questions show a different pattern of acceptance in the L2 German of L1 Czech speakers (as compared to L1ENFRSP) if, besides input, there is transfer from Czech?Yes, since the Czech L1 group is very close to convergence with L1 GE group.

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Discussion: Research questions - GE

L1 Spanish


• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —Significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= .000)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .000)—No significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .422)GURT 201223

Results: Spanish

L2 Spanish – L1 English/French


• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —Significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= .000)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .000)—Significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .029)

GURT 201224

Results: Spanish

L2 Spanish – L1 Czech


• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —No significant differences between L-D and Scope (p= 1.000)—Significant differences between L-D and Copy (p= .000)—Significant differences between Scope and Copy (p= .000)

GURT 201225

Results: Spanish

L1 / L2 Spanish

• ANOVA: Main effect for question type. The differences are significant. F (2,120)= 180.439 p= .000. Significant interaction between group and question type. F (4,106)= 25.138 p= .000.

• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —Significant differences between L1SP and L1CZ (p= .008)

Main effect for group. The differences are significant. F (2,53)= 5.518 p= .006.GURT 201226

Results: Spanish

L1 / L2 Spanish (cont’d)

• Group comparisons (Multivariate ANOVA): Significant differences for LD (F (2,60)= 24.652 p= .000), Scope (F (2,60)= 23.950 p= .000) and Copy (F (2,60)= 6.313 p= .003)

• Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction: —Significant differences between L1SP and L1CZ for LD (p= .000), Scope (p= .000) and Copy (p= .001)—Significant differences between L1SP and L1ENFR for LD (p= .038)—Significant differences between L1CZ and L1ENFR for LD (p= .000), Scope ((p= .000) and Copy (p= .022)

GURT 201227

Results: Spanish

• What is the status of the three question types in the L2 grammars?As expected, Long-Distance is accepted across the board and Copy is rejected across the board, but Scope is accepted by the L1CZ group (comparable to their acceptance of L-D).

• Will Scope and Copy wh-questions show a pattern of rejection in the L2 Spanish of English and French speakers similar to that of L1 Spanish speakers, the control group, given that neither Scope nor Copy are possible in Spanish?Yes: there are no significant differences in the rejection of Scope and Copy and marginally significant difference in with the L-D construction.

• Will Scope wh-questions show a different pattern of rejection in the L2 Spanish of L1 Czech speakers (as compared to L1ENFR) due to transfer from Czech?Yes: the differences between the L1 ENFR and the L1 CZ group are significant both in relation to the acceptance of Long-Distance and in relation to the rejection of Scope and Copy.

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Discussion: Research questions - SP

#1 L2 German — L1 English/French/Spanish: [+input / —transfer]

If input plays a role, Scope and Copy constructions will be accepted in this L2 grammar.Confirmed for Scope.

#2 L2 German — L1 Czech [+input / +transfer]

If both input and transfer play a role, Scope constructions will be more accepted in this L2 grammar than in the L1 English/French based grammar.

Confirmed for Scope.

#3 L1 German (Control group)

Scope and Copy wh-questions will be accepted by L1 German speakers.

Confirmed only for Scope.GURT 201229

Discussion: Hypotheses

#4 L2 Spanish — L1 English/French: [-input / +transfer]

Since neither input nor transfer will not play a role, the L2 Spanish of French and English speakers should depict very few instances of Scope and Copy.

Confirmed.

#5 L2 Spanish — L1 Czech: [-input / +transfer]

If transfer plays a role, the L2 Spanish of Czech speakers will contain more instances of Scope than the L2 Spanish of French and English speakers.

Confirmed. In fact, the two L2s are different with respect to the acceptance of the three types of wh-questions.

#6 L1 Spanish (Control group)

Only Long-Distance wh-questions (neither Scope nor Copy constructions) will be accepted by L1 Spanish speakers.

Pattern confirmed but sGJs allow some acceptance of Scope and Copy. However, there are significant differences between Long-Distance and Scope and Long-Distance and Copy.

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Discussion: Hypotheses

• sGJT: not 100% but very clear-cut patterns.

• Input (without formal instruction) plays a clear role in the case of Scope.

• Transfer plays a clear role in the case of Scope.

• Comparable level of competence: L2 Spanish / L2 German (by L1 CZ)?

Robust numbers due to experimental design…

• Task triggers acceptance even from native speakers of Spanish (albeit low).

• Further research Production taskOn-line taskRepetition taskTeasing apart Scope vs. Copy and the different grammatical relations (SU, DO, Adjunct)

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Conclusions

•Bruening, B. (2006). Differences between the wh-scope-marking and wh-copy constructions in Passamaquoddy. Linguistic Inquiry 37(1): 25-49.

•Cheng, L. (2000). Moving just the feature. In U. Lutz, G. Müller and A. von Stechow (eds.), Wh-scope marking, 77-99. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

•Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

•Dayal, V. (1994). Scope marking as indirect wh- dependency. Natural Language Semantics 2: 137-170.

•Felser, C. (2004). Wh-copying, phases, and successive cyclicity. Lingua 114: 543-574.

•Gutierrez, M. J. 2005. The acquisition of English LD wh-questions by Basque/Spanish bilingual subjects in a school context. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of the Basque Country.

•Liceras, J. M., A. Alba de la Fuente & L. Walsh. 2009. Complex wh-questions in non-native Spanish and non-native German: Does input matter? Paper presented at the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (2009), Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

•Lutz, U., G. Müller & A. von Stechow. 2000. Wh-Scope Marking. Amsterdam: John

Benjamins.

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Selected references

•Schulz, B. 2006. Wh-scope marking in English interlanguage grammars: transfer and

processing effects on the second language acquisition of complex wh-questions.

Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hawaii.

•Slavkov, N. 2009. The acquisition of complex wh- questions in the L2 English of Canadian French and Bulgarian speakers: Medial wh- constructions, inversion phenomena, and avoidance strategies. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Ottawa.

•Walsh, L. 2009. Wh-Medial Constructions in Second-Language Acquisition of Spanish. M.A. Research Paper, University of Ottawa.

•Walsh, L. 2009. Medial wh-questions in the L2 English of L1 Spanish speakers. Manuscript, University of Ottawa.

•Wakabayashi, S. & I. Okawara. 2003. Japanese learner’s errors on long distance wh-questions. In S. Wakabayashi (ed.). Generative Approaches to the Acquisition of English by Native Speakers of Japanese. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 215-245.

•Yamane, M. 2003. On the Interaction of First-language Transfer and Universal Grammar in Adult Second Language Acquisition: WH-movement in L1-Japanese and L2-English Interlanguage. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut.

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Selected references

Thanks!!!Merci!!!

¡¡¡Gracias!!!Danke!!! Děkuji!!!

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L1 Czech

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Appendix

Results: Czech

complex wh-questions in native and non-native grammars: acceptability judgements at the...

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