ERIC Number: EJ1176567
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: N/A
Interface Hypothesis and the L2 Acquisition of Quantificational Scope at the Syntax-Semantics-Pragmatics Interface
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v25 n2 p213-223 2018
According to the Interface Hypothesis (IH) (e.g., Tsimpli & Sorace 2006; Sorace 2011), external interfaces are more challenging for L2 learners than internal interfaces. It is not clear, however, if linguistic phenomena associated with external interfaces are necessarily problematic and if internal interfaces are necessarily unproblematic. In order to test these issues, a bidirectional study was conducted with Turkish-speaking learners of English and English-speaking learners of Turkish on the same "quantificational scope" construction, which lies at the interface of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics and thus involves both internal and external interfaces. The task for the former group implicates greater involvement of pragmatics, an external interface, although, for the latter, it involves expunging a construction from the grammar. The results indicate, contra the IH, that whereas the former group has no problems restructuring their grammar, the latter has persistent difficulties.
Descriptors: Linguistic Theory, Second Language Learning, Turkish, Native Language, English (Second Language), Pragmatics, Syntax, Semantics, Difficulty Level, Adults, Language Proficiency, Metalinguistics, Language Tests, Statistical Analysis, Cloze Procedure, Transfer of Training, Language Universals, Task Analysis, Decision Making
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A