Doctoral Dissertation Research: On L2 Morphological Suppliance: Is Syntax or Phonology to Blame?

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While children successfully learn the language of their environment, adult learners do not show the same degree of success in acquiring a second language (L2). An L2 speaker of English might say "she pass the exam yesterday," omitting the -ed past marker in the verb "passed"; the sentence, while understandable, does not conform to English grammar. This type of error has been observed in Chinese native speakers of Chinese acquiring English as adults, even when they have lived in an English-speaking country for a long time and can communicate effectively. This dissertation project examines the production of simple past and plural marking in L2 English, considering factors that have been argued - separately - to affect L2 acquisition at advanced levels of language acquisition: (a) syntactic deficits (e.g. Hawkins and Liszka 2003); and (b) transfer effects of the first language (L1) phonological system (Goad and White 2006). In this project, three different groups of learners of English are compared according to their L1: Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish. Each group of learners will perform experimental tasks designed to elicit the use of simple past and plural marking, in both oral and written form. The different syntactic and phonological properties of these three languages will allow investigators to compare how syntax and phonology weigh on the use of English simple past and plural marking.The results of this study will provide robust evidence for or against (a) syntactic deficits and (b) transfer effects of the L1 phonology. If this project shows that the L1 phonological system is an important factor for L2 past and plural production, then focused training on pronunciation of L2 phonological properties that are not part of the L1 is warranted. Thus, the results of this study may have an impact beyond the cognitive study of L2 mental representation for curricular development at many levels.