THE LAST STAGES OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

474 Pages·2006·3.54 MB·English

THE LASTSTAGES OFSECOND LANGUAGEACQUISITION:
LINGUISTIC EVIDENCEFROM ACADEMIC WRITING BY
ADVANCEDNON-NATIVEENGLISHSPEAKERS
by
SimonaEstelaEne
___________________
Copyright ©SimonaEstelaEne2006
ADissertationSubmittedtotheFacultyofthe
INTERDISCIPLINARY Ph.D.PROGRAM IN
SECOND LANGAUGE ACQUISITION ANDTEACHING
InPartial Fulfillment oftheRequirements
FortheDegreeof
DOCTOR OFPHILOSOPHY
Inthe GraduateCollege
THEUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
2006
2
THEUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATECOLLEGE
As members oftheDissertationCommittee,wecertifythat wehavereadthedissertation
preparedbySimonaEstelaEne
entitledThe Last Stages ofSecond LanguageAcquisition: LinguisticEvidencefrom
AcademicWritingbyAdvancedNon-NativeEnglishSpeakers
andrecommendthat it beacceptedas fulfillingthe dissertationrequirement forthe
DegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
Date: 10/30/06
_______________________________________________________________________
LindaR.Waugh
Date: 10/30/06
_______________________________________________________________________
Douglas H.Adamson
Date: 10/30/06
_______________________________________________________________________
JunLiu
Date: 10/30/06
_______________________________________________________________________
Randi Reppen
Date: 10/30/06
_______________________________________________________________________
Muriel Saville-Troike
Final approval andacceptanceofthis dissertation is contingent uponthecandidate’s
submissionofthefinal copies ofthedissertationtotheGraduateCollege.
Iherebycertifythat Ihavereadthis dissertationpreparedundermydirectionand
recommendthat it beacceptedas fulfillingthedissertationrequirement.
________________________________________________Date: 10/30/06
Dissertation Director: LindaR.Waugh
3
STATEMENTBY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an
advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library
tobemadeavailabletoborrowers underrules ofthe Library.
Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission,
provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for
extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be
grantedbythecopyright holder.
SIGNED: SimonaEstelaEne
4
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Linda R. Waugh, and
the members of my dissertation committee – Dr. Douglas Adamson, Dr. Jun Liu, Dr.
Randi Reppen, and Dr. Muriel Saville-Troike – for believing in this study as much as I
do. Your impressive knowledge, clear minds, and positive attitudes will always be
inspirational tome. It is anhonortoworkwith you.
I am grateful to the participants in this study for taking the time to submit papers,
complete surveys, and participate in interviews. This dissertation would certainly not
exist if you had not been generous with your time and willing to allow me to scrutinize
your writing. Thanks also to Shaun O’Connor, who was instrumental in locating
materials usedinthis study.
I would also like to thank Dr. Douglas Biber, whose achievements in corpus
linguistics I admire and who helped with important technical aspects of this research. I
owe thanks to my friend Jeanna Burrup, whose editorial talents were crucial in the
completion stage of this dissertation. Also, thanks to my friends Kara McBride and
Elaine Lim for asking and listening, as well as for their assistance with administrative
requirements.
Thanks to Gabi for being the best husband, father, and partner. Your love and
dedication to our family are a source of strength. Thank you for taking care of Sofia so
that I could work on my dissertation. Your aspiration to be and do better for yourself and
others inspires meeveryday.
Sofia, my beloved daughter, you are my greatest accomplishment yet. Your
laughterhas madethecompletionofthis dissertationfeel easy.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Simina and Ion, for passing on to me
theirappreciationforknowledgeand theperseverancetoattainit.
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DEDICATION
To
Myparents,
Siminaand IonEne,
Myhusband,
Gabriel Gruionu,
Andourdaughter,
Sofia.
6
TABLEOFCONTENTS
LISTOFTABLES……………………………………………………………………...16
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….25
CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...27
Justificationand background of thestudy…………………………………....27
Purposeof thestudy…………………………………………………………...28
Significanceof thestudy………………………………………………..….......28
CHAPTERTWO:LITERATUREREVIEW………………………………………..31
“Advanced”learners: Whatdothey(not)know?…………………………...33
Accuracy,fluency,and complexitystudies ……………………………..33
Lexical,syntactic, and morphological features of ESLtexts ……….33
Revision/process studies ………………………………………………...37
Advancedlearnerreflections ……………………………………………39
Collocationstudies ………………………………………………………40
Learnercorpora………………………..………………………………………42
Linguisticcharacteristicsof academicprose…………………………………47
CHAPTERTHREE:RESEARCHQUESTIONSANDDESIGN………………….49
Researchquestions……………………………………………………………..49
Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………...50
Researchdesign………………………………………………………………...52
Settingandparticipants ………………………………………………….52
Materials ………………………………………………………………...54
Methods ………………………………………………………………….56
Datacollection ………………………………………………………56
Errorcodingprocedures ……………………………………………..57
CHAPTER FOUR:RESULTS ………………………………………………………..65
Quantitativeand qualitativeanalysisof thenon-nativespeakers’
subcorpus……………………………………………………………………….66
Phara…………………………………………………………………….66
Surveyandinterviewsummary……………………………………..66
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………..67
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ………………………………...67
Lexical errors ……………………………………………………68
(cid:127) Articles ………………………………………………69
(cid:127) Nouns inSDQ……………………………………….71
(cid:127) Nouns inTHQ……………………………………….72
(cid:127) Prepositions …………………………………………73
(cid:127) Prepositions inSDQ………………………………...74
7
TABLEOFCONTENTS–Continued
(cid:127) Prepositions inTHQ………………………………...76
Morphological errors …………………………………………....77
(cid:127) Plural morphologyinSDQ………………………….78
(cid:127) PossessivemorphologyinSDQ……………………..80
(cid:127) Morphological errors inTHQ………………………80
(cid:127) Plural morphologyinTHQ………………………….81
(cid:127) PossessivemorphologyinTHQ……………………..81
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………….82
(cid:127) Agreement errors inSDQ…………………………...83
(cid:127) Syntacticerrors inTHQ……………………………..84
(cid:127) Agreement and copulaor multi-wordconstituent
omissioninTHQ…………………………………….85
Timetwo:Thecomprehensiveexams …………………………...88
Lexical errors ……………………………………………………88
(cid:127) Articles ………………………………………………89
(cid:127) Other lexical errors ………………………………….91
Morphological errors ……………………………………………91
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………….93
(cid:127) Agreement errors inComp…………………………..94
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQ,THQ,andComp ……...97
Lexical errors ……………………………………………………98
(cid:127) Articles ………………………………………………99
Morphological errors …………………………………………..100
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...101
Lee……………………………………………………………………...104
Surveyandinterviewsummary……………………………………104
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………105
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ……………………………….105
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..106
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..107
(cid:127) Verbs ……………………………………………….109
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..109
(cid:127) Qualitativeanalysis of Lee’s prepositionerrors
inSDQ……………………………………………...110
(cid:127) Qualitativeanalysis of Lee’s prepositionerrors
inTHQ……………………………………………..111
Morphological errors ………………………………………….111
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...114
(cid:127) Word/constituent order errors inSDQ…………….115
(cid:127) Anaphoricerrors inSDQ …………………………..117
(cid:127) Tensesequenceerrors in SDQ……………………..117
8
TABLEOFCONTENTS–Continued
(cid:127) SVagreement errors inSDQ………………………118
(cid:127) Syntacticerrors inTHQ……………………………118
Timetwo:Thecomprehensiveexams ………………………….120
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..121
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..121
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..122
Morphological errors ………………………………………….124
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...125
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQ,THQ,andComp …….126
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..127
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..128
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..129
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...130
Morphological errors …………………………………………..131
Mao…………………………………………………………………….134
Surveysummary…………………………………………………...134
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………135
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ……………………………….135
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..137
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..139
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..141
(cid:127) Qualitativeanalysis of Mao’s preposition
errors inSDQ………………………………………142
(cid:127) Qualitativeanalysis of Mao’s preposition
errors inTHQ……………………………………...144
(cid:127) Verbs ……………………………………………….146
(cid:127) Pronouns …………………………………………...148
(cid:127) Nouns ………………………………………………149
(cid:127) Adjectives …………………………………………..150
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...153
(cid:127) Anaphoricerrors inSDQ …………………………..154
(cid:127) Agreement errors inSDQ………………………….156
(cid:127) Word/constituent order errors inSDQ…………….159
(cid:127) Wordorder errors inTHQ………………………...162
(cid:127) Agreement errors inTHQ………………………….164
(cid:127) Anaphoricerrors inTHQ………………………….165
(cid:127) Redundant constituents inTHQ……………………166
Morphological errors …………………………………………..167
(cid:127) Plural morphologyinSDQ………………………...168
(cid:127) PossessivemorphologyinSDQ……………………169
9
TABLEOFCONTENTS–Continued
(cid:127) Adverbial –lyinSDQ………………………………170
(cid:127) Plural morphologyinTHQ………………………...171
(cid:127) Other errors inTHQ……………………………….172
Timetwo:Thecomprehensiveexams ………………………….172
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..173
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..174
(cid:127) Qualitativeanalysisofprepositionerrors
inMao’sComp……………………………………...175
(cid:127) Nouns……………………………………………….177
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...178
(cid:127) Agreement errors ………………………………….178
(cid:127) Anaphoric errors ………………………………179
Morphological errors ………………………………………….179
(cid:127) Plural morphology…………………………………180
(cid:127) Verbal morphology………………………………...181
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQ,THQ,andComp …….181
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..182
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..183
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..185
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...185
Morphological errors …………………………………………..187
Yang……………………………………………………………………190
Surveysummary…………………………………………………...190
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………190
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ……………………………….190
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..191
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..192
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..194
Morphological errors …………………………………………..195
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...197
(cid:127) Anaphoricerrors inSDQ …………………………..198
(cid:127) Agreement errors inSDQ………………………….199
(cid:127) Syntacticerrors inTHQ……………………………200
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQandTHQ……………..201
Rosa…………………………………………………………………….205
Surveysummary…………………………………………………...205
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………206
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ………………………………206
Morphological errors …………………………………………..207
(cid:127) VoicemorphologyinSDQ…………………………208
(cid:127) Possessiveandplural morphologyinSDQ………..208
10
TABLEOFCONTENTS–Continued
(cid:127) Adverbial –lyinSDQ………………………………209
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..211
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..212
(cid:127) Prepositions ………………………………………..214
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...216
(cid:127) Syntacticerrors inSDQ ……………………………216
(cid:127) Syntacticerrors inTHQ……………………………217
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQandTHQ……………..219
Hans ……………………………………………………………………222
Surveysummary…………………………………………………...222
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………223
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ……………………………….223
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..224
(cid:127) Nouns inSDQ……………………………………...225
(cid:127) Nouns inTHQ……………………………………...225
(cid:127) Adjectives inSDQ………………………………….226
(cid:127) Adjectives inTHQ………………………………….226
(cid:127) Articles inSDQandTHQ………………………….226
Morphological errors …………………………………………..227
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...230
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQandTHQ……………..232
Katia……………………………………………………………………234
Surveyandinterviewsummary……………………………………234
Writingsampleanalysis ……………………………………………235
Timeone:Thequalifyingexams ……………………………….235
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..235
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..236
Morphological errors …………………………………………..239
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...241
Timetwo:Thecomprehensiveexams ………………………….243
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..243
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..244
Syntacticerrors ………………………………………………...245
(cid:127) Word/constituent order errors ……………………..246
(cid:127) Anaphoric errors ………………………………247
(cid:127) Agreement errors …………………………………..247
Morphological errors …………………………………………..248
Conclusions: Comparativeanalysis ofSDQ,THQ,andComp …….249
Lexical errors …………………………………………………..250
(cid:127) Articles ……………………………………………..250
Morphological errors …………………………………………..251