Acquisition of Spanish Gender Agreement in Two Learning Contexts: Study Abroad and At Home
Acquisition of Spanish Gender Agreement in Two Learning Contexts: Study Abroad and At Home
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在两种学习背景下获得西班牙性别协议：出国留学和国内学习
DOI：
10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01079.x
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发表时间：
2010
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Christina L. Isabelli
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Christina L. Isabelli
摘要：本研究的目的是描述西班牙语性别习得率，并表明个体差异和语言接触是否会影响这一比率。参与者是在国外和国内学习的中级第二语言西班牙语（第一语言英语）学习者，为期4个月。参与者接受了修饰名词的形态类别以及形容词的定语和谓语的语法判断测试。为了解释数据结果，还收集了西班牙语和英语的社会行为和语言接触数据。研究结果表明，两种学习环境之间不存在差异，社会行为和国外语言接触对习得率的影响最小。关键词：西班牙语，个体差异，语言接触概况，第二语言习得，西班牙语性别认同，出国留学介绍在浸入式环境下出国留学的第二语言学习者可能会也可能不会表现出语言发展。研究表明，沉浸在目标文化中对学习者有很大的价值，尤其是在提高口语表达能力方面（Brecht, Davidson, & Ginsberg, 1993; Collentine, 2004; Freed, Segalowitz, & Dewey, 2004; Isabelli-Garcia, 2003; Kaplan, 1989; Lennon, 1990; Liskin- Gasparro & Urdaneta, 1995; Milleret, 1990; Polanyi, 1995; Segalowitz & Freed, 2004）。然而，在海外留学研究中存在不一致的地方，因为这些说法是基于不同的习得方面和在国外度过的不同时间而提出的。通常，这种说法也缺乏与非留学背景下的表现进行比较，以确保学习背景能解释语言上的收获或缺乏这种收获。目前关于在国外学习背景下的学习者语言发展的研究提供了关于学生在一个学期的表现的预期信息，并将结果与在传统的、在家学习的学习者的结果进行了比较。范围侧重于以英语为第一语言（L1）的西班牙语第二语言学习者在中介语中的性别协议发展，英语是一种缺乏语法性别的语言。这些学习者的性别认同习得可能是不规则的，不像数字认同那么容易习得。由于数字一致性比性别一致性更容易获得（Bruhn de Garavito & White, 2002; Dewaele & Veronique, 2001），因此本研究侧重于更困难的方面——性别。性别一致的例子列于（1a）和（1b）。FS表示女性单数，MP表示男性复数。（1b） los sombreros negros - mp hat-MP - black- mp[黑帽子]在（1a）中，在西班牙语中，因为“library”是女性，所以定冠词“the”和形容词“famous”也必须是女性。在英语中不是这样，冠词或形容词没有性别。在（1b）中，因为名词sombreros是复数形式，所以定冠词los和修饰形容词negros也是复数形式。名词形式和意义也影响性别一致习得。这种影响可以从例(2)中看到，这些名词以结尾-a和-o来区分性别。（2a）以- profesora-FS[教授]标记的名词（2b）以-o nino-MS[男孩]标记的名词这些例子表明，以-a和-o结尾的西班牙语名词在形态上标记了性别，可以作为同意的暗示（Finneman, 1992）。当二语学习者不确定适当的形态标记时，他们倾向于“求助于默认的性别标记[男性]”（Bruhn de Garavito& White, 2002，第172页；另见Harris， 1991），并且他们倾向于过度概括男性形式而不是女性形式（Alarcon, 2006; barning, 1999; Bruhn de Garavito& White, 2002; Cain, webb - olsen, & Smith, 1987; Finneman, 1992; Franceschina, 2001, 2005）。…
Abstract: The goal of this study is to describe the acquisition rate for gender acquisition in Spanish and to show whether individual variability and language contact may affect this rate. The participants were intermediate second language Spanish (first language English) learners in the study abroad and at-home contexts over a 4-month period. The participants received grammaticality judgment tests coded for morphological class of the modified noun as well as attributive and predicative adjectives. Data were also collected on social behavior and language contact in Spanish and English in order to explain data outcome. The findings suggest that no difference exists between the two learning contexts and that social behavior and language contact abroad have minimal influence on acquisition rate. Key words: Spanish, individual variability, language contact profile, second language acquisition, Spanish gender agreement, study abroad Introduction Second language (L2) learners who study abroad in an immersion context may or may not show linguistic development. Research has shown that immersion in the target culture is of great value to learners, especially in improving oral production ability (Brecht, Davidson, & Ginsberg, 1993; Collentine, 2004; Freed, Segalowitz, & Dewey, 2004; Isabelli-Garcia, 2003; Kaplan, 1989; Lennon, 1990; Liskin- Gasparro & Urdaneta, 1995; Milleret, 1990; Polanyi, 1995; Segalowitz & Freed, 2004). There are, however, inconsistencies in study abroad research because claims are made based on different acquisition aspects and distinct amounts of time spent abroad. Frequently, claims also lack a comparison to performance in a non-studyabroad context to ensure that the context of learning accounts for linguistic gains or lack of such gains. The present study of learners' linguistic development in the study abroad context provides information about what can be expected from students' performance during one semester and compares the results to those of learners who study in the traditional, at-home context. The scope focuses on gender-agreement development in the interlanguage of Spanish L2 learners that have a first language (L1) of English, a language lacking grammatical gender. Gender-agreement acquisition by these learners can be irregular and not as easily acquired as number agreement. Because number agreement is acquired more easily than gender (Bruhn de Garavito & White, 2002; Dewaele & Veronique, 2001), this study focuses on the more difficult aspect, gender. Examples of gender agreement are listed in (1a) and (1b). FS denotes Feminine Singular, and MP denotes Masculine Plural. (1a) la biblioteca famosa the-FS library-FS famous-FS [the famous library] (1b) los sombreros negros the-MP hat-MP black-MP [the black hats] In (1a), in Spanish, because "library" is feminine, the definite article "the" and adjective "famous" must also be feminine. This is not the case in English, as articles or adjectives possess no gender. In (1b), because the noun sombreros is plural, the definite article los and modifying adjective negros are also plural. Noun form and meaning also affect gender-agreement acquisition. This influence can be seen in example (2) with nouns that are gender-marked by the endings -a and -o. (2a) nouns gender-marked by the -a profesora-FS [professor] (2b) nouns gender-marked by the -o nino-MS [boy] These examples show that the Spanish nouns that are gender-marked by the endings -a and -o are morphologically marked for gender and can serve as a cue for agreement (Finneman, 1992). When L2 learners are unsure of the appropriate morphological marker, they tend to "resort to default gender marking [masculine]" (Bruhn de Garavito& White, 2002, p. 172; see also Harris, 1991) and they tend to overgeneralize the masculine forms more often than they do the feminine ones (Alarcon, 2006; Bartning, 1999; Bruhn de Garavito & White, 2002; Cain, Weber-Olsen, & Smith, 1987; Finneman, 1992; Franceschina, 2001, 2005). …