Learnability and the Lexicon: Theories and second language acquisition research

294 Pages·1996·24.96 MB·English

by  Alan Juffs

LEARNABILITY AND THE LEXICON
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION & LANGUAGE DISORDERS
EDITORS
Harald Clahsen William Rutherford
University of Essex University of Southern California
EDITORIAL BOARD
Anne Baker (University of Amsterdam)
Melissa Bowerman (Max Planck Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen)
Werner Deutsch (Universität Braunschweig)
Kenji Hakuta (UC Santa Cruz)
Nina Hyams (University of California at Los Angeles)
Peter Jordens (Free University, Amsterdam)
Jürgen Meisel (Universität Hamburg)
Kim Plunkett (Oxford University)
Mabel Rice (University of Kansas)
Michael Sharwood Smith (University of Utrecht)
Antonella Sorace (University of Edinburgh)
Karin Stromswold (Rutgers University)
Jürgen Weissenborn (Universität Potsdam)
Lydia White (McGill University)
Helmut Zobl (Carleton University, Ottawa)
Volume 12
Alan Juffs
Learnability and the Lexicon
Theories and Second Language Acquisition Research
LEARNABILITY
AND THE LEXICON
THEORIES AND SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION RESEARCH
ALAN JUFFS
University of Pittsburgh
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Juffs, Alan.
Learnability and the lexicon : theories and second language acquisition research / Alan
Juffs.
p. cm. -- (Language acquisition & language disorders : ISSN 0925-0123; v. 12)
Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.--McGill University, 1993).
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Second language acquisition. 2. Lexicology. 3. Grammar, Comparative and general-
Syntax. 4. Semantics. I. Title. II. Series.
P118.2.J84 1996
418--dc20 96-855
ISBN 90 272 2478 1 (Eur.) / 1-55619-775-6 (US) (alk. paper) CIP
© Copyright 1996 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O.Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America •P.O.Box 27519 • Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 • USA
To my parents
Pat and Peter Juffs

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Linguistic Theory, Language Acquisition, and the Lexicon 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Theoretical framework 3
1.2.1 The organization of the grammar 3
1.2.2 Subjacency : a principle of Universal Grammar 6
1.2.3 Parameters 8
1.3 The logical problem of language acquisition 11
1.4 The Lexicon and L1 Acquisition 14
1.4.1 The lexicon and semantics-syntax correspondences 14
1.4.2 L1 acquisition of semantics-syntax correspondences 18
1.5 Principles and parameters of UG in SLA 22
1.5.1 Overview 22
1.5.2 Parameters in SLA 24
1.6 The Lexicon and SLA 27
1.7 Summary of the introduction and organization o fthe book 29
2 Generative approaches to semantics-syntax correspondences 32
2.1 Introduction 32
2.2 Problems with the early theory of thematic relations 33
2.2.1 The semantics-syntax relationship 33
2.2.2 Focusing the issues 37
2.3 Four Approaches to Thematic Relations, Lexical Representation,
and the Semantics - Syntax Link 40
2.3.1 Dowty: Proto Roles 40
2.3.2 Conflation and Semantic Structure 45
2.3.2.1 Theoretical Background 45
2.3.2.2 Locatives in English 48
2.3.2.3 The Unaccusative/Unergative Distinction 53
2.3.2.4 Psych Verbs 55
2.3.2.5 Problems with Pinker's system 56
2.3.3 Emonds: Syntax based theta role assignment 59
2.3.3.1 The Feature [± Location] 59
2.3.3.2 Problems with Emonds' theory 62
VIII Learnability and the Lexicon
2.3.4 Hale and Keyser (1993) Argument Structure:
Lexical Syntactic Relations 66
2.3.4.1 The motivation for syntax in the lexicon 66
2.3.4.2 X-bar theory, lexical representation,
and the restrictions on thematic relations 69
2.3.4.3 Problems with Hale and Keyser's Approach 71
2.4 Summary 72
3 Semantic structure: crosslinguistic patterns and constraints 76
3.1 Introduction 76
3.2 Argument structure and morphology 77
3.2.1 Morphemes which change argument structure 77
3.2.2. The status and nature of derivational morphology 78
3.3 Talmy's typological approach to conflation 79
3.4 Conflation in Chinese 82
3.4.1 Locatives in Chinese 83
3.4.1.1 Content verbs in Chinese 84
3.4.1.2 Container verbs in Chinese 85
3.4.1.3 Resultative Verb Compounds and Morphemes
in Chinese. 85
3.4.1.4 Level ordering in morphology 87
3.4.1.5 Summary 88
3.4.2 Psych Verbs and Unaccusatives of change of state in Chinese 89
3.5 Parameters in semantic structure: evidence and problems 92
3.5.1 A possible parameter 92
3.5.2 Other evidence for the parameter 93
3.5.2.1 Defeasability 93
3.5.2.2 The status of yong 'use' 94
3.5.3 Problems and contradictions 94
3.5.3.1 Contradictions with Pinker's system 95
3.5.3.2 Contradictions with Talmy's typology 96
3.5.3.3 Productivity and exceptions in a parameter
setting account of argument structure alternations 97
3.6 Evidence from other languages 99
3.6.1 Languages which pattern with English:
French and Bulgarian 100
3.6.2 Languages which pattern with Chinese: Japanese, Tagalog,
Chechen-Ingush, and possibly German 102
Table of Contents IX
3.7 Constraining semantic structure: some revised representations 108
3.7.1 Building blocks and rules of combination 109
3.7.2 Representation for Unaccusatives 111
3.7.3 Representation for the Unergative 112
3.7.4 Representations for Locative Verbs 114
3.7.4.1 Non-alternating content verbs 114
3.7.4.2 Non-alternating container verbs 115
3.7.4.3 Alternating locative verbs 119
3.7.5 Representations for Psych Verbs 120
3.7.6 Comments on crosslinguistic conflation 123
3.8 Summary 124
4 Acquiring Semantics-Syntax Correspondences 128
4.1 Introduction 128
4.2 L1 acquisition of semantics-syntax correspondences 129
4.2.1 An overview of L1 data 131
4.2.2 Causatives 132
4.2.3 Locative verbs in L1 acquisition 135
4.2.4 Acquisition Theories 137
4.2.4.1 Pinker 138
4.2.4.2 Syntactic Bootstrapping of Verb Meaning 140
4.2.4.3 Bowerman 141
4.3 The learnability of a syntax-based semantic structure. 142
4.3.1 Syntax-based semantic categories and X-bar theory 142
4.3.2 Fine grained aspects of verb meaning: the 'narrow range' 145
4.3.3 Learnability of the parameter [ACT(+effect) [GO [STATE]]] 145
4.4 Second language acquisition, transfer, and the lexicon 149
4.4.1 Evidence from production data 150
4.4.2 Experimental studies 153
4.4.2.1 Lexical semantics and syntax 153
4.4.2.2 Experimental studies with the dative alternation 154
4.4.2.2.1 Acquisition of the dative alternation
in L2 French and English 156
4.4.2.2.2 Acquisition of the English
dative alternation by Japanese learners 159
4.4.2.2.3 Chinese learners' knowledge
of the dative alternation 164
4.4.2.2.4 Summary 165
4.5 Hypotheses for conflation and argument structure in SLA 165
X Learnability and the Lexicon
5 Testing knowledge of semantics-syntax correspondences
in a second language 169
5.1 Introduction 169
5.2 Hypotheses for Chinese-speaking learners of English 169
5.3 Participants 173
5.4 Methodology 176
5.4.1 Verb Meaning Test 178
5.4.2 Production Task 178
5.4.3 The Grammaticality Judgment Task 182
5.5 Results 184
5.5.1 Results of the test of verb meaning 184
5.5.2 Results of the Production Task 186
5.5.2.1 Rawscore Results of the Production Task 186
5.5.2.2 Quantitative Results of the Production Task 194
5.5.3. Results of the Grammaticality Judgment Task 199
5.5.3.1 Confirming the differences between
English and Chinese 199
5.5.3.2 General Results of the
Grammaticality Judgment Task 201
6 Analysis and Discussion 205
6.1 Introduction 205
6.2 Evidence for the switching of a conflation pattern parameter 205
6.2.1 Native speaker results 206
6.2.2 Evidence from the production task for the parameter 206
6.2.3 Evidence from the judgment task 209
6.2.4 Other studies 219
6.2 Unaccusative and Unergative Verbs 222
6.3 Conflation and 'narrow range rules' 224
6.4 Stages in lexical parameter resetting 228
7 Epilogue 230
7.1 Introduction 230
7.2 Summary 230
7.3 Suggestions for further research 232
7.3.1 Lexical parameters 232
7.3.2 Crosslinguistic research 233
7.3.3 Syntax, Conflation, and Morphology in SLA 234
7.3.4 Classroom Research 235