Second Language Acquisition of Chinese Wh-words as Universal Quantifiers by English and Japanese Speakers

这是一个普遍的现象，不像孩子们几乎毫不费力地掌握母语，很少有成年人在学习第二语言时能够获得像母语人士一样的能力。然而，并不是目标语语法的每个部分都对成人第二语言学习者构成问题；有些公司比其他公司更早被收购，有些公司看似已被收购，但必须在较晚阶段进行重组，还有一些公司在整个收购过程中似乎都无法收购。本项目旨在了解英语和日语的成人汉语学习者在多大程度上能够习得汉语的whh词（即“who, what, where, when”的汉语等价物）作为全称量词（即“everyone, everything, everywhere, every time”的汉语等价物）。在英语中，wh-words（即“who, what, where, when”等词）通常用作疑问词来构成wh-疑问句（尽管其中一些也可以用作关系代词来引入关系从句）。汉语“谁”字除了可以作疑问句外，还可以作全称量词，但必须有一个虚词“都”作为准绳。另一个限制是，单词“wh”必须出现/移动到“dou”的左侧。功能词“Dou”允许其左边的“wh”作为通用量词。日语中的“wh”字也可以用作全称量词，但它们必须与“-mo”连用，如“dare”（=who）—>“dare-mo”（=everyone）和“doko”（=where）—>“doko-mo”（=everywhere）。在日语句子中没有被许可人移动的要求。汉语与日语的不同之处在于，被许可人与被许可人的关系在汉语中处于小句层面，而在日语中处于名短语层面。显然，英语的“wh”字不能用作全称量词，因此英语中不存在许可人与被许可人的关系。这三种语言之间的差异提出了关于汉语第二语言习得的有趣研究问题，该项目旨在找到以下问题的答案：1。汉语的“wh”字可以被英语使用者解释为全称量词吗？2. 是否有可能在说英语的人的第二语言汉语语法中建立许可人与被许可人的关系？持牌人会否按母语中文文法的要求，在第二语言中文文法中移到持牌人的左边？3. 第一语言迁移在汉语“wh-”词二语习得中的作用有多大？在学习汉语语法方面，日本学习者比英语学习者有优势吗？4. 日语学习者能否从名词短语层面拓展许可范围，在条款层面建立许可人-被许可人关系？5. 在他们的第二语言汉语语法中，他们能把被许可人的名字放在被许可人的左边吗？研究对象为英语、日语水平的汉语学习者，从初级水平到高级水平（包括大学汉语教学的教授和讲师）。通过这样做，我想检查英语和日语学习者习得汉语语法方面的发展模式。这也将使我能够调查学习者的L2汉语语法的初始和最终状态。本实证研究的结果将传播给第二语言汉语教师、第二语言汉语教材编写者、第二语言汉语教学大纲设计者、第二语言汉语考试设计者等。

It is a common phenomenon that unlike children who acquire their mother tongues almost effortlessly, few adults are able to acquire native-like competence when they learn a second language. However, not every part of the target language grammar poses a problem to adult second language learners; some are acquired earlier than others, some appear to be acquired but have to undergo restructuring at a later stage, and some seem to be unacquirable throughout the acquisition process. This project aims to find out to what extent English and Japanese adult learners of Chinese are able to acquire Chinese wh-words (i.e. the Chinese equivalents of 'who, what, where, when') as universal quantifiers (i.e. the Chinese equivalents of 'everyone, everything, everywhere, every time'). In English, wh-words (i.e. words such as 'who, what, where, when') are generally used as interrogative words to form wh-questions (although some of them can also be used as relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses). Wh-words in Chinese, apart from being used as interrogative words, can also be used as universal quantifiers but they have to be licensed by a functional word 'dou'. Another constraint is that the wh-word has to appear/move adjacent to the left of 'dou'. The functional word 'Dou' licenses the wh-word to its left as a universal quantifier. Japanese wh-words can also be used as universal quantifiers, but they have to be combined with a particle '-mo', as in 'dare' (=who) ---> 'dare-mo' (=everyone) and 'doko' (=where) ---> 'doko-mo' (=everywhere). There is no requirement for licensee movement in Japanese sentences. Here Chinese is different from Japanese in that the licenser-licensee relationship is at the clausal level in Chinese but at the noun-phrase level in Japanese. Obviously, English wh-words cannot be used as universal quantifiers and therefore the licenser-licensee relationship does not exist in English. The contrasts between these three languages raise interesting research questions about second language (L2) acquisition of Chinese, and the project aims to find answers to the following questions:1. Can Chinese wh-words be interpreted as universal quantifiers by English speakers? 2. Is it possible to establish the licenser-licensee relationship in English speakers' L2 Chinese grammars? Will the licensee move to the left of the licenser in their L2 Chinese grammars, as required in the native Chinese grammar? 3. To what extent does the first language transfer play a role in L2 acquisition of Chinese wh-words as universal quantifiers. Do Japanese learners have advantages over English learners in acquiring this aspect of Chinese grammar? 4. Can Japanese learners expand the licensing scope from the noun phrase level and establish the licenser-licensee relationship at the clause level? 5. Will they be able to raise the licensee to the left of the licenser in their L2 Chinese Grammars? English- and Japanese-speaking learners of Chinese from the beginner level to the advanced level (including professors and lecturers teaching Chinese in universities) will be included as subjects for the projects. By doing so I want to examine the developmental patterns of English and Japanese learners' acquisition of the aspects of the Chinese grammar concerned. This will also enable me to investigate the initial and the final states of learners' L2 Chinese grammars. The findings from this empirical study are to be disseminated to teachers of Chinese as a second language, L2 Chinese textbook writers, L2 Chinese syllabus designers, L2 Chinese examination designers, etc.