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

一个普遍的现象是，与几乎毫不费力地习得母语的儿童不同，很少有成年人能够在学习第二语言时获得母语能力。然而，并不是目标语语法的每一部分都对成年第二语言学习者构成问题;有些语法比其他语法习得得早，有些语法看起来是习得的，但在后来的阶段必须进行重组，有些语法在整个习得过程中似乎是不可习得的。本研究旨在探讨英语和日语成人汉语学习者在何种程度上能够习得汉语wh-词（即“who，what，where，when”的汉语对应词）作为全称量词（即“everyone，everything，everywhere，everytime”的汉语对应词）。在英语中，wh-词（即“who，what，where，when”等词）通常用作疑问词，形成wh-疑问句（尽管其中一些也可以用作关系代词，引入关系从句）。汉语中的疑问词除了可以用作疑问词外，还可以用作全称量词，但必须有一个虚词“都”来表示。另一个限制是，wh-单词必须出现/移动到“dou '”的左侧附近。虚词“都”允许其左边的wh-词作为全称量词。日语的wh-words也可以用作全称量词，但它们必须与小品词“-mo”组合在一起，例如“dare”（=谁）->“dare-mo”（=每个人）和“doko”（=哪里）->“doko-mo”（=无处不在）。在日语句子中没有被许可人移动的要求。与日语不同的是，汉语中的被许可人与被许可人之间的关系是在小句层面上，而日语中的被许可人与被许可人之间的关系是在名词短语层面上。显然，英语wh-词不能用作全称量词，因此英语中不存在许可人-被许可人关系。这三种语言之间的对比提出了关于汉语第二语言习得的有趣的研究问题，该项目旨在找到以下问题的答案：1。汉语疑问词能被英语使用者理解为全称量词吗？2.在英语母语者的第二语言汉语语法中是否可能建立授权者-被授权者关系？在第二语言的汉语语法中，被许可人是否会按照母语汉语语法的要求，向许可人的左边移动？3.母语迁移在汉语wh-词作为全称量词的二语习得中发挥了多大的作用。日本学习者在习得这方面的汉语语法方面是否比英语学习者有优势？4.日语学习者能否从名词短语层面扩大授权范围，在小句层面建立授权人与被授权人的关系？5.在他们的第二语言汉语语法中，他们能把被许可人提到许可人的左边吗？从初级到高级水平的英语和日语汉语学习者（包括在大学教授汉语的教授和讲师）将被列为项目的对象。本文旨在探讨英语学习者和日语学习者习得汉语语法的发展规律。这也将使我能够调查学习者的第二语言汉语语法的初始和最终状态。本实证研究的结果可供对外汉语教师、对外汉语教材编写者、对外汉语教学大纲设计者、对外汉语考试设计者等参考。

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.