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The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization

  • Xiaoyan Zhang ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 25, 2023
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 62 Issue 4

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution (i.e., the distribution of one-construction only verbs and alternating verbs across English) and verb semantics on Chinese EFL learners’ restriction of generalization of English prenominal past participles (PPPs). Three groups were formed: a lexicalist group, a generalist group, and a mixed group. During the treatment, the lexicalist group were exposed to input involving one-construction only verbs exclusively; the generalist group, alternating verbs only; the mixed group, both one-construction only and alternating verbs. An acceptability judgment task was employed to assess L2 learners’ construction generalization. The study found that, (1) the Lexicalist group exhibited significantly less generalization with the known state-change verbs than either the Generalist or the Mixed group, and significantly less generalization with the known non-state-change verbs than the Generalist group; (2) the Lexicalist group showed less generalization with extensive exposure one-construction only new verbs than the mixed group whereas the generalist and the mixed group did not differ significantly regarding construction preference of extensive exposure alternating new verbs; (3) the Lexicalist group were significantly less likely to generalize the PPP-only minimal exposure new verb than either the Generalist or Mixed group, and significantly less liable to generalize the relative clause (RC)-only minimal exposure new verb as opposed to the Generalist group; (4) moreover, the three groups differed significantly in regularization (operationalized as the number of participants who tended to accept each verb in only one of two competing constructions) of no exposure new verbs, with the lexicalist group producing more regularization than the other two groups.

Keywords: English prenominal past participles; higher-level verb distribution; L2 construction generalization; verb semantics
Corresponding author: Xiaoyan Zhang, School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an University of Finance and Economics, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China, E-mail:

Funding source: China Foreign Language Education Fund

Award Identifier / Grant number: ZGWYJYJJ11A112

Funding source: Shaanxi Social Sciences Foundation

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2021K005

  1. Research funding: This research was supported by a grant from Shaanxi Social Sciences Foundation (2021K005), and a grant from China Foreign Language Education Fund (ZGWYJYJJ11A112).

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0022).

Received: 2023-02-07
Accepted: 2023-07-17
Published Online: 2023-07-25
Published in Print: 2024-11-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0022
Keywords for this article
English prenominal past participles; higher-level verb distribution; L2 construction generalization; verb semantics

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. “Am I really abroad?” The informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation students in the UK
  4. Comprehension of English articles by Korean learners of L2 English and L3 Spanish
  5. Motivation and growth in kanji proficiency: a longitudinal study using latent growth curve modeling
  6. The impact of textual enhancement on the acquisition of third person possessive pronouns by child EFL learners
  7. Domain-general grit and domain-specific grit: conceptual structures, measurement, and associations with the achievement of German as a foreign language
  8. The different effects of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation on reading performance via engagement among young Chinese second-language learners
  9. Image-schema-based-instruction enhanced L2 construction learning with the optimal balance between attention to form and meaning
  10. Investigating willingness to communicate in synchronous group discussion tasks: one step closer towards authentic communication
  11. Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context
  12. Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese
  13. The impact of abdominal enhancement techniques on L1 Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin speakers’ English pronunciation
  14. Discourse competence across band scores: an analysis of speaking performance in the General English Proficiency Test
  15. Videoed storytelling in primary education EFL: exploring trainees’ digital shift
  16. 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
  17. Factors behind L2 English learners’ performance of oppositional speech acts: a look at pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) during thinking aloud
  18. Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
  19. Exploring aural vocabulary knowledge for TOEIC as a language exit requirement in higher education in Taiwan
  20. Grammatical gender assignment in L3 versus L4 Swedish: a pseudo-longitudinal study
  21. Strategic reading comprehension in L2 and L3: assuming relative interdependence within Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis
  22. Incidental collocational learning from reading-while-listening and the impact of synchronized textual enhancement
  23. Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English
  24. The use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) by L2 learners: the impact of age, gender, language learning experience, and L2 proficiency levels
  25. “They forget and forget all the time.” The complexity of teaching adult deaf emergent readers print literacy
  26. Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective
  27. Investigating the effects of varying Accelerative Integrated Method instruction on spoken recall accuracy: a case study with junior primary learners of French
  28. Testing a model of EFL teachers’ work engagement: the roles of teachers’ professional identity, L2 grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment
  29. The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization
  30. Insights from an empirical study on communicative functions and L1 use during conceptual mediation in L2 peer interaction
  31. On the acquisition of tense and agreement in L2 English by adult speakers of L1 Chinese
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