The Effects of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and Other Factors on Spontaneous Production of L2 Relative Clauses at Different Proficiency Levels

概要

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The production of a relative clause (RC) by second language (L2) learners in relation to the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH), which refers to an implicational relationship among different types of RCs, is a well researched area in second language acquisition. However, how L2 proficiency affects spontaneous use of RCs is relatively unaddressed. This study investigates how the NPAH effects (Comrie, 2007) interact with learner proficiency in spontaneous speech. RC samples created by learners at four different proficiency levels were excerpted from a spoken corpus compiled in Japan, and accuracy and frequency of these RCs were examined. The results indicate that overall, L2 learners tend to use a less marked (or easier) RC type. However, it has further become evident that the NPAH has a differential influence on the production of RCs depending on proficiency levels. In the present research, learners at a particular level overuse a formulaic template, "generic noun+(relative pronoun)+animate subject+verb," thus creating a more marked, or difficult type of RC with higher accuracy. This can be characterized as a communicative strategy by an adult L2 speaker who has to maintain face-to-face communication.
2011-03-30