From Wh-Movement to Wh-In-Situ Acquisition of I-To-C Movement in English Interrogative Constructions by Kurdish Learners

Authors

  • Shivan Toma University of Duhok , Kurdistan Region - Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26436/hjuoz.2020.8.1.585

Keywords:

Second Language Acquisition (SLA), Wh-fronting, Wh-movement, Wh-in-situ, Behdini Kurdish, Universal Grammar (UG)

Abstract

In this study, the effect of Kurdish (Behdini variety) as an L1 on L2 learners' acquisition of English Wh-movement in interrogation will be investigated through comparatively taking into account the most current syntactically-based generative models of Second Language Acquisition, including Full Access/Full Transfer (FA/FT) (Schwartz & Sprouse, 1996), the Interpretability Hypothesis (Tsimpli & Dimitrakopoulou, 2007), and the Variational Model of Language Acquisition (Yang, 2002). A Grammaticality Judgement Elicitation Task is conducted in the form of a surveying questionnaire to gather data among L2 learners to establish their acquisition process of interrogation in English. The informants are students of the English and Translation Departments at the College of Languages - University of Duhok, English being their second language. The data are analysed using mixed-effects modeling by employing the lmer package (version 3.3.1) with logit link function and binomial variance for the judgement data in R, an open-source language and environment for statistical computing. The results of the study show that there is a transfer from first language into the second language due to the finding that most participants, disregarding their proficiency level, failed to reject the ungrammatical sentences in almost all the categories. The study finds support for the FT/FA proposal, where L1 transfer occurs, in addition to L2 input and access to universal grammar

Author Biography

Shivan Toma, University of Duhok , Kurdistan Region - Iraq.

University of Duhok , Kurdistan Region - Iraq.

References

Epstein, S., Flynn, S. & Martohardjono, G. (1996). Second language acquisition: theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research. Brain and Behavioral Sciences 19: 677–758.
Hawkins, R. (2011). Statistical learning and innate knowledge in the development of second language proficiency: evidence from the acquisition of gender concord. In A.G. Benati, (Ed.) Issues in second language proficiency. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Schwartz, B. D., & Sprouse, R. A. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, 12(1), 40–72.
Slabakova, R. (2008). Meaning in the Second Language, Studies in Language Acquisition Series, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Tsimpli, I. M., & Dimitrakopoulou, M. (2007). The interpretability hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 23, 215–242.
White, L. (2003). Second language acquisition and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: University Press.
Yang, C. D. (2002). Knowledge and Learning in Natural Language. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Published

2020-03-30

How to Cite

Toma, S. . (2020). From Wh-Movement to Wh-In-Situ Acquisition of I-To-C Movement in English Interrogative Constructions by Kurdish Learners. Humanities Journal of University of Zakho, 8(1), 159–171. https://doi.org/10.26436/hjuoz.2020.8.1.585

Issue

Section

Humanities Journal of University of Zakho