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One of the characteristics of tense/aspect
marking in English interlanguage is that
the way verbs are market in obligatory past
contexts is highly variable.Although such
varible patterns are often said to be random,
it has been claimed that L2 learners have their own reasons for using some systematically variable patterns.The
present study investigated two specific issues in tense / aspect marking
patterns in English interlanguage using VARBRUL as a statistical tool.
(1)What linguistic factors consistently affect past tense marking in English
interlanguage? Seven linguistic factors are investigated:discourse type,
co-occurrence whith adverbials, grounding, sentence structure, lexical
/ semantic aspect, phonological environment, and phonetic saliency of verbs.Another
issue addressed is : (2) How is lexical / semantic aspect associated with
uses of verbal inflection for tense / aspect in Eglish interlanguage?
The interlanguage data analyzed were produced
by adolescent native Japanese speakers learning
English (high-intermediate) with a mainly
formal instructional background in Japan.
They prduced three oral past tense narratives
in their L2. From among seven factor groups
investigated by VARBRUL analysis,three significantly
influenced L2 variable past tense marking
rates : discourse type, the foreground vs.
background distinction, and sentence structural
differences such as matrix / independent
clauses, conjunct, and subbordinate clauses.
Two factor groups, the lexical / semantic
aspect, and phonetic sailency of verbs, showed
a non-significant tendency toward contributing
to variable patterns of tense marking. Two
more factor groups, co-occurrence with "anchored"
or "unanchored" adverbials and
phonological environment, did not affect
vairiable tense marking. It is concluded
that it is higher level interlanguage constraints
such as discource type, grounding, and sentence
structure that more consistently affect verb
past making rates for L2 learns who are at
a relatively higher proficientry level.
Concering the second reserch question,
a relationship between the English simple
past and achivement verbs was identified,
and activity verbs were found to attract
the progressive.
The study demonstrates the value of VARBRUL
analysis for understanding variable patterns
in interlanguage. VARBRUL is very different
from the traditional type / token analysis,
and we can closely examine variable patterns
as they occur. This allows us to analyze
and reanalyze data from various points of
view. |
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