Competing factors in SLA: how the CASP model of SLA explains the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by native speakers of Arabic and Korean
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John Hitz
Abstract
The Complex Adaptive Systems Principles (CASP) model of SLA claims that L1 transfer results when language processing effort is minimized. This claim was investigated by a self-paced on-line sentence judgment task in which L1 Arabic and Korean speakers and a control group of L1 English speakers read and judged English subject, direct object, and oblique relative clauses (RCs) in gapped and resumptive pronoun (RP) conditions. It was hypothesized that L1 influence would cause the Arabic speakers to accept English RCs with RPs more frequently than Korean speakers because RPs are acceptable in Arabic direct object and oblique RCs, whereas Korean bans RPs in these RC types. It was also hypothesized that the L2 English speakers would accept RPs more often than the L1 English speakers because RPs would ease L2 sentence processing. As predicted, L1 Arabic speakers accepted RPs more frequently than L1 Korean speakers, a transfer effect, and both L2 English groups accepted RPs more frequently than L1 English speakers, a processing effect. The results thus support the CASP model’s claim that L1 transfer is conditioned by language processing and other complex SLA processes that interact with one another.
Token Set 1
The boy who always compliments us has a great attitude.
The boy who he always compliments us has a great attitude.
The boy who we always compliment has a great attitude.
The boy who we always compliment him has a great attitude.
The boy who we always give compliments to has a great attitude.
The boy who we always give compliments to him has a great attitude.
Token Set 2
The gentleman who seated me smiled in a friendly way.
The gentleman who he seated me smiled in a friendly way.
The gentleman who I seated smiled in a friendly way.
The gentleman who I seated him smiled in a friendly way.
The gentleman who I offered a seat to smiled in a friendly way.
The gentleman who I offered a seat to him smiled in a friendly way.
Token Set 3
The man who sheltered us during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
The man who he sheltered us during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
The man who we sheltered during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
The man who we sheltered him during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
The man who we gave shelter to during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
The man who we gave shelter to him during the thunderstorm asked many questions.
Token Set 4
The people who notice us tend to wear the latest fashions.
The people who they notice us tend wear the latest fashions.
The people who we notice tend to wear the latest fashions.
The people who we notice them tend to wear the latest fashions.
The people who we pay attention to tend to wear the latest fashions.
The people who we pay attention to them tend to wear the latest fashions.
Token Set 5
The policeman who informed us about the accident was very friendly.
The policeman who he informed us about the accident was very friendly.
The policeman who we informed about the accident was very friendly.
The policeman who we informed him about the accident was very friendly.
The policeman who we gave information to about the accident was very friendly.
The policeman who we gave information to him about the accident was very friendly.
Token Set 6
The relatives who visited us last night enjoyed the evening.
The relatives who they visited us last night enjoyed the evening.
The relatives who we visited last night enjoyed the evening.
The relatives who we visited them last night enjoyed the evening.
The relatives who we paid a visit to last night enjoyed the evening.
The relatives who we paid a visit to them last night enjoyed the evening.
Token Set 7
The student who helps me works ten hours a day.
The student who she helps me works ten hours a day.
The student who I help works ten hours a day.
The student who I help her works ten hours a day.
The student who I provide assistance to works ten hours a day.
The student who I provide assistance to her works ten hours a day.
Token Set 8
The woman who tipped the young man was very thankful.
The woman who she tipped the young man was very thankful.
The woman who the young man tipped was very thankful.
The woman who the young man tipped her was very thankful.
The woman who the young man gave a tip to was very thankful.
The woman who the young man gave a tip to her was very thankful.
Sentence judgments: Main effects and interactions
| Effect | Num DF | Den DF | F value | Pr > F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native Level | 4 | 80.5 | 2.65 | 0.0391 |
| Clause | 2 | 971 | 8.66 | 0.0002 |
| Native Level*Clause | 8 | 970 | 1.74 | 0.0844 |
| GAP/RP | 1 | 971 | 1,038.70 | <0.0001 |
| Native_Level*GAP/RP | 4 | 970 | 125.46 | <0.0001 |
| Clause*GAP/RP | 2 | 971 | 69.80 | <0.0001 |
| Native Level*Clause*GAP/RP | 8 | 970 | 4.54 | <0.0001 |
Main effects: Results of the mixed-model ANOVAs for total time
| Effect | Num df | Den df | F | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native_Level | 4 | 80.5 | 1.78 | 0.142 |
| Clause | 2 | 3,970 | 174.14 | <0.001 |
| Native_Level*Clause | 8 | 3,970 | 1.32 | 0.228 |
| Pronoun | 1 | 3,970 | 91.94 | <0.001 |
| Native_Level*Pronoun | 4 | 3,970 | 3.13 | 0.014 |
| Clause*Pronoun | 2 | 3,970 | 1.43 | 0.240 |
| Native_Level*Clause*Pronoun | 8 | 3,970 | 1.35 | 0.215 |
Appendix 4: Reading times of individual words
Subject RCs with RPs.
Subject RCs with gaps.
Direct object RCs with gaps.
Direct object RCs with RPs.
ORCs with gaps.
ORCs with RPs.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “Am I really abroad?” The informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation students in the UK
- Comprehension of English articles by Korean learners of L2 English and L3 Spanish
- Motivation and growth in kanji proficiency: a longitudinal study using latent growth curve modeling
- The impact of textual enhancement on the acquisition of third person possessive pronouns by child EFL learners
- Domain-general grit and domain-specific grit: conceptual structures, measurement, and associations with the achievement of German as a foreign language
- The different effects of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation on reading performance via engagement among young Chinese second-language learners
- Image-schema-based-instruction enhanced L2 construction learning with the optimal balance between attention to form and meaning
- Investigating willingness to communicate in synchronous group discussion tasks: one step closer towards authentic communication
- Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context
- Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese
- The impact of abdominal enhancement techniques on L1 Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin speakers’ English pronunciation
- Discourse competence across band scores: an analysis of speaking performance in the General English Proficiency Test
- Videoed storytelling in primary education EFL: exploring trainees’ digital shift
- Competing factors in SLA: how the CASP model of SLA explains the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by native speakers of Arabic and Korean
- Factors behind L2 English learners’ performance of oppositional speech acts: a look at pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) during thinking aloud
- Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
- Exploring aural vocabulary knowledge for TOEIC as a language exit requirement in higher education in Taiwan
- Grammatical gender assignment in L3 versus L4 Swedish: a pseudo-longitudinal study
- Strategic reading comprehension in L2 and L3: assuming relative interdependence within Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis
- Incidental collocational learning from reading-while-listening and the impact of synchronized textual enhancement
- Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English
- The use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) by L2 learners: the impact of age, gender, language learning experience, and L2 proficiency levels
- “They forget and forget all the time.” The complexity of teaching adult deaf emergent readers print literacy
- Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective
- Investigating the effects of varying Accelerative Integrated Method instruction on spoken recall accuracy: a case study with junior primary learners of French
- Testing a model of EFL teachers’ work engagement: the roles of teachers’ professional identity, L2 grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment
- The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization
- Insights from an empirical study on communicative functions and L1 use during conceptual mediation in L2 peer interaction
- On the acquisition of tense and agreement in L2 English by adult speakers of L1 Chinese
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “Am I really abroad?” The informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation students in the UK
- Comprehension of English articles by Korean learners of L2 English and L3 Spanish
- Motivation and growth in kanji proficiency: a longitudinal study using latent growth curve modeling
- The impact of textual enhancement on the acquisition of third person possessive pronouns by child EFL learners
- Domain-general grit and domain-specific grit: conceptual structures, measurement, and associations with the achievement of German as a foreign language
- The different effects of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation on reading performance via engagement among young Chinese second-language learners
- Image-schema-based-instruction enhanced L2 construction learning with the optimal balance between attention to form and meaning
- Investigating willingness to communicate in synchronous group discussion tasks: one step closer towards authentic communication
- Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context
- Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese
- The impact of abdominal enhancement techniques on L1 Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin speakers’ English pronunciation
- Discourse competence across band scores: an analysis of speaking performance in the General English Proficiency Test
- Videoed storytelling in primary education EFL: exploring trainees’ digital shift
- Competing factors in SLA: how the CASP model of SLA explains the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by native speakers of Arabic and Korean
- Factors behind L2 English learners’ performance of oppositional speech acts: a look at pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) during thinking aloud
- Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
- Exploring aural vocabulary knowledge for TOEIC as a language exit requirement in higher education in Taiwan
- Grammatical gender assignment in L3 versus L4 Swedish: a pseudo-longitudinal study
- Strategic reading comprehension in L2 and L3: assuming relative interdependence within Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis
- Incidental collocational learning from reading-while-listening and the impact of synchronized textual enhancement
- Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English
- The use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) by L2 learners: the impact of age, gender, language learning experience, and L2 proficiency levels
- “They forget and forget all the time.” The complexity of teaching adult deaf emergent readers print literacy
- Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective
- Investigating the effects of varying Accelerative Integrated Method instruction on spoken recall accuracy: a case study with junior primary learners of French
- Testing a model of EFL teachers’ work engagement: the roles of teachers’ professional identity, L2 grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment
- The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization
- Insights from an empirical study on communicative functions and L1 use during conceptual mediation in L2 peer interaction
- On the acquisition of tense and agreement in L2 English by adult speakers of L1 Chinese
