Native and Non-native Grammars of Chinese Gapping-like Verb Ellipsis
This study sets off to fill in a gap in the L2 research literature on empty categories in Mandarin Chinese by examining second language (L2) acquisition of a type of Chinese verb-less constructions by English-speaking learners. The verb-less constructions in question are Chinese gapping-like constructions which bear a surface resemblance to English canonical gapping constructions. Despite the surface similarities shared by Chinese gapping-like constructions and English canonical gapping, the two verb-less constructions derive from different syntactic representations, which is reflected in their different distributions. Moreover, there exist some semantic constraints unique to Chinese gapping-like constructions. The present study investigates both offline acceptability judgment and online production of Chinese gapping-like constructions by native MC speakers and L2 learners. It sets off to explore whether the similarities and differences between Chinese and English affect the developmental course and ultimate attainment of L2 Chinese gapping-like constructions at both the narrow syntax and the interface levels. The present study aims to contribute to the ongoing debates on two major topics in L2 research: i. the learnability of interface properties; ii. the effect of L1. 29 native Chinese speakers and 70 English-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese ranging from beginners to advanced learners participated in the study, taking an online elicitation imitation task as well as an offline acceptability judgment task. It is found that both narrow syntactic properties and interface properties pose challenges in L2 acquisition of Chinese gapping-like VBE (Verb Ellipsis), which indicates that learnability issues are not specific to interfaces. The present study regards L1-L2 asymmetry as the primary cause for the persistent non-nativelike L2 attainment at both the narrow syntax level and the interface level. Meanwhile, other factors such as proficiency and input also play important roles in shaping learners’ L2 grammars and L2 speech production mechanisms.
Chinese Linguistics, Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, Syntax
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