Acquisition of «be» by Cantonese ESL Learners in Hong Kong- and its Pedagogical Implications

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• Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
• Year: 2014
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783035106503
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The present study examines grammaticality judgment data, production data and acceptability judgment data from 243 Cantonese second language learners and a control group of 12 native English speakers. Research areas concern (a) the role of the first language in the acquisition of be by Cantonese second language learners; (b) the question if properties associated with be remain persistently problematic for Cantonese speakers; (c) developmental stages of the acquisition of be; (d) the relationship between morphology and syntax; and (e) pedagogical implications.
No published L2 research has attempted an in-depth theoretical and empirical treatment of both acquisition and teaching subject matters in one single work. This work helps bridge the gap between acquisition theory and language pedagogy research, benefitting not just language learners but language teachers around the world, and all those who would like to witness a collaboration between second language acquisition theory and second language teaching practice in general.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents 5
• Chapter 1 Introduction: Knowledge, Classroom Input and Performance in the Development of Second Languages 9
• Chapter 2 Linguistic Assumptions 29
• Chapter 3 Literature Review 57
• Chapter 4 Methodology 81
• Chapter 5 Results 97
• Chapter 6 Discussion and Conclusion 133
• Appendix A: Description of the subjects 173
• Appendix B: Subjects’ Version of the English test 175
• Appendix C: Researcher’s Version of the English test 191
• Appendix D: Original Story: The Woman who Tricked Death 207
• Appendix E: Sentences produced by Cantonese ESL learners in Task 2 219
• Appendix F: Different property types used by the Cantonese ESL learners in Task 2 365
• Appendix G: Different property types (and the frequency) used by each proficiency group in Task 2 367
• Appendix H: Target-like forms and non-target-like forms for different property types (all subjects) produced in Task 2 (0: not, 1: yes) 371
• Appendix I: Target-like forms and non-target-like forms for different property types produced by each proficiency level in Task 2 (0: not, 1: yes) 381
• Appendix J: Processing operations involved in the acquisition of grammatical rules 387
• Appendix K: Romanization Systems: Yale, IPA and LSHK 389
• Appendix L: Questionnaire of the follow-up study 393
• References 413