The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners

323 Pages·2013·4.47 MB·English

by  Kristof Baten

The Acquisition of the German Case System
by Foreign Language Learners
Processability Approaches to Language
Acquisition Research & Teaching (PALART)
Processability Theory (PT) as developed by Manfred Pienem ann is a prominent
theory of second language acquisition. PT serves as a framework for a wide range of
research cover ing issues such as L2 processing, interlanguage variation, typological
effects on SLA, L1 transfer, linguistic profiling and L2 assessment, stabilisation/
fossilisation and teachability. The PALART series serves as a platform for making
current research within the PT framework and its application to measurement and
teaching, as well as the interdisciplinary discussion of PT accessible to both research­
ers and graduate students in the field. PALART is designed to provide a thematic
platform for the presentation of current high­quality work within the PT framework.
The thematic scope of the series reflects the wide scope of theoretical, empirical and
practical aspects of PT.
For an overview of all books published in this series, please see
http://benjamins.com/catalog/palart
Editors
Manfred Pienemann Bruno Di Biase Jörg-U. Keßler
University of Paderborn & University of Western Sydney Ludwigsburg University of
Newcastle University Education
Advisory Board
Jonas Granfeldt Gisela Håkansson
Lund University, Sweden Lund University, Sweden
Angela Hahn Camilla Bettoni
Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Verona University, Italy
Germany
Satomi Kawaguchi
Ingo Plag University of Western Sydney, Australia
Siegen University, Germany
Yanyin Zhang
Matti Rahkonen Australian National University, Australia
Jyväskylä University, Finland
Volume 2
The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners
by Kristof Baten
The Acquisition
of the German Case System
by Foreign Language Learners
Kristof Baten
Ghent University
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48­1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baten, Kristof.
The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners / Kristof Baten.
p. cm. (Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching, issn
2210­6480 ; v. 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. German language­­Study and teaching­­Foreign speakers. 2. German language­­Case.
3. German language­­Syntax. 4. German language­­Semantics. 5. Language
acquisition. 6. German language­­Grammar­­Study and teaching. I. Title.
PF3066.B29 2013
438.2’421­­dc23 2013018481
isbn 978 90 272 0302 1 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 7170 9 (Eb)
© 2013 – 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 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of tables xi
List of figures xv
List of abbreviations xvii
chapter 1
Introduction 1
1.1 The thematic focus 1
1.2 The explanatory framework 6
1.3 A sequence for case 10
1.4 Outline 15
chapter 2
The developmental problem in second language acquisition 17
2.1 Introduction: A burgeoning research field 17
2.2 Theoretical tenets of Processability Theory 19
2.2.1 The underlying logic 19
2.2.2 Language generation 20
2.2.3 Linguistic knowledge 26
2.3 Explaining developmental schedules 33
2.3.1 Feature unification 34
2.3.2 Linking arguments and constituents to functions 41
2.4 Application to German as a Second Language (GSL) 45
2.5 Conclusion 49
chapter 3
The acquisition of the German case system 51
3.1 Introduction 51
3.2 L1-acquisition 52
3.2.1 The early studies 52
3.2.1.1 Observations on developmental sequences 52
3.2.1.2 Explaining the L1 developmental sequences 56
vi The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners
3.2.2 Generative studies 60
3.2.2.1 Theoretical background 60
3.2.2.2 The onset of case development 62
3.2.2.3 The acquisition of the dative case:
Structural or lexical? 65
3.2.2.4 Conclusion 73
3.2.3 Functionalist approaches 75
3.2.4 Summary 80
3.3 Second language acquisition 82
3.4 Foreign language acquisition 88
3.4.1 An unexplored field 88
3.4.2 Contrastive/Error analysis 89
3.4.3 Developmental analysis 99
3.5 Conclusion 108
chapter 4
Feature unification and linking in case marking 111
4.1 Introduction 111
4.2 LFG and case 111
4.3 Representation within PT 117
4.3.1 Direct case mappings 117
4.3.2 C-to-f mapping 119
4.3.3 A-to-f mapping 122
4.4 Re-interpretation of prior research 123
4.4.1 Case oppositions 123
4.4.2 Case use with verb arguments
vs. prepositional objects 130
4.4.3 The role of personal pronouns 132
4.5 Developmental hypotheses 135
4.6 Conclusion 140
chapter 5
Methodology 141
5.1 Introduction 141
5.2 Corpus 142
5.2.1 Participants 142
5.2.2 Data elicitation 143
5.2.3 Transcription and coding 146
5.2.4 Data set 148
Table of contents vii
5.3 Data analysis 148
5.3.1 Form-function relationships 148
5.3.2 Emergence criterion 152
chapter 6
Results and discussion 159
6.1 Introduction 159
6.2 Verb arguments 160
6.2.1 Marking SUBJ and OBJ in canonical word order 160
6.2.1.1 Canonical syntactic structures 160
6.2.1.2 ‘Case’ markers in preverbal subjects 168
6.2.1.3 ‘Case’ markers in postverbal objects 176
6.2.1.4 Developments in the intra-stage 185
6.2.1.5 Conclusion 197
6.2.2 XP-adjunction 198
6.2.3 Marking SUBJ and OBJ in non-canonical word order 201
6.2.3.1 XP VS(O) 201
6.2.3.2 OVS 209
6.2.3.3 Elliptic constructions 217
6.2.3.4 Passives 221
6.2.3.5 Conclusion 226
6.2.4 Implicational scaling of morpho-syntactic development 228
6.2.5 Ditransitive constructions 231
6.2.5.1 Options to express the indirect object (OBLθ) 231
6.2.5.2 The indirect object as a prepositional phrase 234
6.2.5.3 Position marking of the IO DO sequence? 239
6.2.5.4 Functional case assignment of the indirect object 243
6.2.5.5 From unmarked mapping to functional
case assignment 246
6.2.6 COMP 249
6.2.7 Conclusion: From marking the position to marking the function 258
6.3 Prepositional phrases 259
6.3.1 Introduction 259
6.3.2 Case development with regard to one-way prepositions 260
6.3.3 Interface between lexical and positional/functional marking 265
6.3.4 Case development with regard to two-way prepositions 267
6.3.5 Interface between functional and conceptual marking 275
6.3.6 Conclusion: Prepositional phrases 278
6.4 Conclusion 280
viii The Acquisition of the German Case System by Foreign Language Learners
chapter 7
General conclusion 283
7.1 The explanatory framework 283
7.2 The developmental sequence of case 285
7.2.1 … on verb arguments 285
7.2.2 … in prepositional phrases 287
7.3 Present (and future) contributions to the field 288
References 289
Appendix 301
Index 303
Acknowledgements
Doing research is not the work of one individual. Sure, I was the one who sat at my
writing desk in solitude, more than occasionally seeking relief in my cup of coffee
and a box of chocolates. Nevertheless, this book, which is based on my PhD research,
would never have seen the light of day, if it had not been for the following people. First,
I would like to express my thanks to Gisela Håkansson, Katja Lochtman, Manfred
Pienemann, Mieke Van Herreweghe, Klaas Willems and two anonymous reviewers;
as well as Kees Vaes from the publisher’s office. Their comments and review greatly
enhanced this work. Also I want to mention my co-workers at Ghent university,
Ludovic De Cuypere and Saartje Verbeke, and the fine colleagues I met during the
EuroSLA and PALA conferences. Furthermore, I am grateful to all the pupils, their
teacher, and the university students that participated in this study. Finally, I want to
thank Sien Uytterschout for her love, encouragement and patience, and for cheerfully
coping with my endless rambles about linguistics. Our budding academic careers have
not detered us from becoming parents twice over, the most wonderful experience
there is. The sparkling eyes of our sons, their joy and happiness gave us strength and
energy when we were both working on our academic paths. This book is dedicated to
them: Emrys and Myrddin!
Kristof Baten
Gent, April 2013