Acquisition of L2 Turkish prosody
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Öner Özçelik
Abstract
This paper investigates second language acquisition of lower-level (i.e. word-level) and higher-level prosody in Turkish to address the role of Universal Grammar (UG) via two different studies. The results of the first study demonstrate that lower-level prosody presents particular challenges for English-speaking learners, as the task for them involves expunging a prosodic constituent from the grammar, which is hypothesized to be impossible. Higher-level prosody, on the other hand, was found to be relatively easy to acquire, despite not being taught in Turkish language classes in a comprehensive and linguistically correct manner. Although learners were not native-like in their performance on lower-level prosody, their representations were UG-constrained. Thus, it is concluded that learners have access to UG for prosody at both levels.
Abstract
This paper investigates second language acquisition of lower-level (i.e. word-level) and higher-level prosody in Turkish to address the role of Universal Grammar (UG) via two different studies. The results of the first study demonstrate that lower-level prosody presents particular challenges for English-speaking learners, as the task for them involves expunging a prosodic constituent from the grammar, which is hypothesized to be impossible. Higher-level prosody, on the other hand, was found to be relatively easy to acquire, despite not being taught in Turkish language classes in a comprehensive and linguistically correct manner. Although learners were not native-like in their performance on lower-level prosody, their representations were UG-constrained. Thus, it is concluded that learners have access to UG for prosody at both levels.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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PART I. The acquisition of L2 phonology
- Acquisition of L2 Turkish prosody 19
- Decreasing dependence on orthography in phonological development 49
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PART II. The acquisition of L2 morpho-syntax
- The acquisition of TAM markers in L2 Turkish 75
- The causative/inchoative morphology in L2 Turkish under the Feature Reassembly Approach 107
- Someone judges every sentence 135
- Syntax/semantics/pragmatics of yes/no question in second language Turkish 165
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PART III. The acquisition of L2 discourse/pragmatics
- Cross-linguistic effects in the use of suggestion formulas by L2 Turkish learners 195
- Explicit apologies in L2 Turkish 221
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PART IV. The processing of L2 morpho-syntax
- Processing morphology in L2 Turkish 251
- Non-native syntactic processing of Case and Agreement 281
- Structural priming in L2 Turkish 313
- Conclusion 333
- Index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
PART I. The acquisition of L2 phonology
- Acquisition of L2 Turkish prosody 19
- Decreasing dependence on orthography in phonological development 49
-
PART II. The acquisition of L2 morpho-syntax
- The acquisition of TAM markers in L2 Turkish 75
- The causative/inchoative morphology in L2 Turkish under the Feature Reassembly Approach 107
- Someone judges every sentence 135
- Syntax/semantics/pragmatics of yes/no question in second language Turkish 165
-
PART III. The acquisition of L2 discourse/pragmatics
- Cross-linguistic effects in the use of suggestion formulas by L2 Turkish learners 195
- Explicit apologies in L2 Turkish 221
-
PART IV. The processing of L2 morpho-syntax
- Processing morphology in L2 Turkish 251
- Non-native syntactic processing of Case and Agreement 281
- Structural priming in L2 Turkish 313
- Conclusion 333
- Index 347
