This study aimed to investigate the production of stress in English compound nouns and phrasal verbs by L1 Thai learners. Based on the Interlanguage Hypothesis (Corder, 1982; Selinker, 1972), it was hypothesized that (1) there is a positive relationship between English proficiency levels and accuracy in stress assignment in compound nouns and…

The second language (L2) acquisition of tense, aspect, and mood/modality (TAM) has been widely explored as it holds the promise of a better understanding of the L2 learners' linguistic competences, particularly semantically and morpho-syntactically. This study focuses on the acquisition of the subjunctive mood by L1 English learners of L2 French…

This paper illustrates the use of learner corpus data (extracted from Cambridge Learner Corpus--CLC) to carry out an error analysis to investigate authentic learner errors and their respective frequencies in terms of types and tokens as well as contexts in which they regularly occur across four distinct proficiency levels, B1-B2; C1-C2, as defined…

This paper investigated the "be"-insertion phenomenon in L2 English. L2 learners often insert "be"-forms before thematic verbs, creating nontargetlike forms (e.g. "She is love ice cream"). Based on L2 data from learners of topic-prominent L1s, a group of researchers have claimed that such "be"-forms are…

English and Chinese have typological differences in finiteness. English has morphological finite and nonfinite distinction, whereas Chinese has no morphological finiteness, and multiple verbs in a clause appear in the form of bare verbs with optional aspectual morphemes, such as the perfective morpheme "le". The current study explores…

As learner corpora have presently become readily accessible, it is practicable to examine interlanguage errors and carry out error analysis (EA) on learner-generated texts. The data available in a learner corpus enable researchers to investigate authentic learner errors and their respective frequencies in terms of types and tokens as well as…

Through examining all instances of the nontarget "be" before verbs in the written interlanguage of Chinese learners at different proficiency levels, the present study reveals that nontarget "be" performs different functions, and there is a function shift from low to high proficiency levels. At the lowest levels, "be"…

As regards the acquisition of L2 verbal morphology, one of the universal tendencies as elucidated by the Interlanguage Discourse Hypothesis (Bardovi-Harlig, 1994, p.43) is that language learners use emerging verbal morphology to distinguish foreground and background in narratives. This present study examines whether Thai EFL learners' use of…

This study investigates second language (L2) development of Spanish verbal morphology, subject omissions, and subject-verb (SV) inversions by learners in two different proficiency levels and learning contexts. Oral narratives from 40 L2 learners at the intermediate and advanced levels, both at home and in a study abroad (SA) program, were examined…

This dissertation investigates the methods used by intermediate, advanced and superior level learners of German when quoting formerly uttered speech in direct discourse. The study shows that that there are different methods of speech reporting at different levels of language proficiency. Each level of speakers in the study used the quotative…

This study investigates the effects of classroom interactions between a) students and students and b) students and teachers on the learning of English passivization by L1 Chinese adult learners of English as a foreign language during the language input and output treatments. In phase 1, both groups were asked to read and underline the input…

This paper presents a study that attributes verb serialization in the interlanguage of Vietnamese-speaking ESL learners to language transfer and, furthermore, puts forward the view that such transfer bears a resemblance to substrate influence in creoles with serial verb constructions (SVCs). In a task that elicited English causatives through…

Examines style shifting in the use of three past tense morphemes by 17 intermediate learners of English as a second language. Style shifting is explored within a single discourse mode--narrative--according to the amount of time made available. Data were collected under three conditions: (1) planned writing; (2) planned speech; and (3) unplanned…

Data from responses to a grammaticality judgement test by 26 learners of English as a second language at two proficiency levels were used to investigate syntactic acquisition. Four syntactic structures were examined. Results suggest that less proficient subjects use syntactic strategies, while more proficient learners use semantic-based…

Examines the variable realization of the third person singular present tense by learners of English as a Second Language at elementary and intermediate levels of proficiency in unplanned discourse in South Africa. (35 references) (Author/CK)