Does L1 transfer influence Chinese speakers' intuition of adjective ordering in English

"L1 influence on second language acquisition has been shown by linguists in many areas. This study is to look into the L1 influence on English adjective ordering among Chinese ESL learners. We hypothesized that if there was a certain adjective ordering ""rule"" existing in both Chinese and English, it would facilitate Chinese ESL learners' performance on producing such order in English. The results of our experiment suggested that there was a statistically significant interaction between proficiency level (native vs. non-native) and adjective categories ( non-absolute + absolute vs. absolute + absolute vs. non-absolute + non-absolute). More specifically, Chinese ESL learners performed the best in the ""nom-absolute + absolute"" category that exists in both English and Chinese compared to the other two categories that only exist in English. This finding indicates that L1 influence may play a role in second language acquisition of adjective ordering."

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Huang, Ruoyu

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ionin, Tania
• Yan, Xun

• Adjective ordering
• L1 influence
• Universal grammar
• Chinese English as a second language (ESL) learner

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Ruoyu Huang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98394

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/98394