English datives show two syntactic patterns, the double object dative (DOD) and the prepositional dative (PD). The alternation between DOD and PD is influenced by three contextual factors: lexical verbs, syntactic weights, and information structures. However, it has been observed that English dative alternation by second language (L2) learners significantly deviates from the native norm. Accordingly, this study examines whether the three factors are influential when L2 learners produce dative sentences, by analyzing a learner corpus and a native speaker corpus. Results show that the learners produced PD significantly more frequently than the native speakers did. Even when DOD should be contextually preferred, the learners produced many PD sentences. These results suggest that L2 learners have trouble noticing the contextual factors when structuring English datives. The finding is further discussed as it relates to the major tenets of L2 acquisition such as cross-linguistic transfer, constructional knowledge, and language processing.
Arnold, J. E., Losongco, A., Wasow, T., & Ginstrom, R.
(2000) Heaviness vs. newness: The effects of structural complexity and discourse status on constituent ordering. Language, 76(1), 28–55.
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., Finegan, E., & Quirk, R.
(1999) Longman grammar of spoken and written English. New York: Longman.
Birner, B. J., & Ward, G.
(2009) Information structure and syntactic structure. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3(4), 1167–1187.
Bresnan, J., Cueni, A., Nikitina, T., & Baayen, R. H.
(2007) Predicting the dative alternation. In G. Boume, I. Kraemer, & J. Zwarts (Eds.), Cognitive foundations of interpretation (pp. 69–94). Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Science.
Bresnan, J., & Ford, M.
(2010) Predicting syntax: Processing dative constructions in American and Australian varieties of English. Language, 86(1), 168–213.
Brown, M., Savova, V., & Gibson, E.
(2012) Syntax encodes information structure: Evidence from on-line reading comprehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 66(1), 194–209.
Callies, M., & Szczesniak, K.
(2008) Argument realization, information status and syntactic weight – A learner-corpus study of the dative alternation. In M. Walter & P. Grommes (Eds.), Fortgeschrittene Lernervarietäten. Korpuslinguistik und Zweitspracher-werbsforschung (pp. 165–187). Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D.
(1999) The grammar book: An ESL/EFL teacher’s course. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Chang, L. -H. (2004) Discourse effects on EFL learners’ production of dative constructions. Journal of National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, 331, 145–170.
Collins, P.
(1995) The indirect object construction in English: An informational approach. Linguistics, 33(1), 35–50.
Cowan, R.
(2008) The teacher’s grammar of English with answers: A course book and reference guide. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Erteschik-Shir, N.
(1979) Discourse constraints on dative movement. Syntax and Semantics, 121, 441–467.
Erteschik-Shir, N.
(2007) Information structure: The syntax-discourse interface. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Givón, T.
(1979) From discourse to syntax: Grammar as a processing strategy in discourse and syntax. Syntax and Semantics Ann Arbor, Mich., 121, 81–112.
Goldberg, A. E.
(1995) Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press.
Gries, S. T.
(2005) Syntactic priming: A corpus-based approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 34(4), 365–399.
(1986) A prosodic account of the to-dative alternation. Unpublished manuscript. Brandeis University, MA.
Hawkins, R.
(1987) Markedness and the acquisition of the English dative alternation by L2 speakers. Second Language Research, 3(1), 20–55.
Hong, K. S.
(1991) Argument selection and case marking in Korean (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Hovav, M. R., & Levin, B.
(2008) The English dative alternation: The case for verb sensitivity. Journal of Linguistics, 44(1), 129–167.
Ishikawa, S.
(2011) A new horizon in learner corpus studies: The aim of the ICNALE project. In G. Weir, S. Ishikawa, & K. Poonpon (Eds.), Corpora and language technologies in teaching, learning and research (pp. 3–11). Glasgow, UK: University of Strathclyde Publishing.
Jäschke, K., & Plag, I.
(2016) The dative alternation in German-English interlanguage. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 381, 1–66.
Kim, J. Y.
(2014) Information structure and L2 acquisition of the English dative alternation by Korean speakers (Unpublished master’s thesis). Korea University, Seoul.
Lapata, M.
(1999, June). Acquiring lexical generalizations from corpora: A case study for diathesis alternations. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 37th annual meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics on Computational Linguistics.
Le Compagnon, B.
(1984) Interference and overgeneralization in second language learning: The acquisition of English dative verbs by native speakers of French. Language Learning, 34(3), 39–57.
Lee, J. -H., & Kim, H. M.
(2011) The L2 developmental sequence of English constructions and underlying factors. Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 11(3), 577–600.
Lee, Y. S., Lee, E., & Kim, Y. -J.
(2008) How does information structure interact with acquisition of word order by Korean English learners?The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 16(3), 279–299.
Levin, B. (1993) English verb classes and alternations: A preliminary investigation. Chicago; London: University of Chicago press.
Marefat, H.
(2005) The impact of information structure as a discourse factor on the acquisition of dative alternation by L2 learners. Studia linguistica, 59(1), 66–82.
Mazurkewich, I.
(1981) Second language acquisition of the dative alternation and markedness: The best theory (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Université de Montréal, Montréal.
Mazurkewich, I.
(1985) Syntactic markedness and language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7(1), 15–35.
Mazurkewich, I., & White, L.
(1984) The acquisition of the dative alternation: Unlearning overgeneralizations. Cognition, 16(3), 261–283.
(2014) Use of signaling nouns in published and Korean student academic writing in applied linguistics. English Teaching, 69(1), 147–172.
Park, K. -S.
(2011, March). Information structure and dative word order in adult L2 learners. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 11th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2011).
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. N., & Svartvik, J.
(1972) A grammar of contemporary English. London: Longman.
Scott, M.
(2008) Wordsmith tools version 5. Lexical Analysis Software.
(2016) Effects of construction-centered instruction on Korean students’ learning of English transitive resultative constructions. In S. De Knop & G. Gilquin (Eds.), Applied Construction Grammar (pp. 89–113). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Tanaka, S.
(1987) The selective use of specific exemplars in second‐language performance: The case of the dative alternation. Language Learning, 37(1), 63–88.
Verhelst, N., Van Avermaet, P., Takala, S., Figueras, N., & North, B.
(2009) Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wasow, T., & Arnold, J.
(2003) Post-verbal constituent ordering in English. Topics in English Linguistics, 431, 119–154.
Whong-Barr, M., & Schwartz, B. D.
(2002) Morphological and syntactic transfer in child L2 acquisition of the English dative alternation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(4), 579–616.
(2011, December). Acquiring English dative verbs: Proficiency effects in German L2 learners. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
Yook, C.
(2012) L1 influence on ESL learners’ acquisition of English ditransitive constructions. English Teaching, 67(2), 27–50.
Yook, C.
(2013) The role of frequency in Korean learners’ acquisition of English dative construction. English Teaching, 68(1), 179–200.
Cited by
Cited by 4 other publications
Park, Ji-Hyun & Min-Chang Sung
2023. Expansion of verb-argument construction repertoires in L2 English writing. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 0:0
2023. 日籍華語學習者於「送」雙及物構式的使用. Chinese as a Second Language Research 12:1 ► pp. 91 ff.
蕭惠貞, 詹士微 & 魏吟玲
2024. 探究影響漢語雙及物構式語句產出之要素. Chinese as a Second Language Research 13:1 ► pp. 79 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.