ERIC Number: EJ1401076
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2630-0672
EISSN: EISSN-2672-9431
Available Date: N/A
Thai Learners' Acquisition of English Dative Constructions: Evidence for the Absence of L1 Transfer
Pongyoo, Teerawat; Singhapreecha, Pornsiri
LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, v16 n2 p737-751 2023
This study investigated Thai EFL learners' acquisition of English dative constructions, i.e., Prepositional Dative (PD) and Double Object (DO) constructions employing Radford's (2004) Minimalist accounts as a framework and Acceptability Judgment as a task. Two hypotheses were formulated. Firstly, the English PD would be accepted more readily than the English DO, due to the availability of PDs in both languages and the absence of DOs, by English standards, in Thai. Secondly, if there was L1 transfer, English counterparts of Thai DO and Thai Serial Verb constructions (SVC) would be initially accepted at a greater rate than English DOs. At later stages, given access to UG and adequate L2 input, the English DO would be accepted more significantly than the Thai DO and Thai SVC. Participants consisted of three groups of Thai EFL learners (beginning, intermediate, and upper intermediate). Results largely confirm both hypotheses. Particularly, Thai DOs and SVCs were rejected substantially from the intermediate learners onwards. This shows that the initial transfer of Thai DO and SVCs did not occur. Therefore, this study does not support Full Transfer at the initial stage (contra Schwartz & Sprouse, 1996). This study suggests L2 learners' indecision on the target L2 structure at the early stage and progress to attainment at later stages, in line with Wakabayashi's Lexical Learning and Lexical Transfer hypothesis (2009), and accessibility to UG at large.
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English (Second Language), Verbs, Grammar, Foreign Countries, Native Language, Transfer of Training, Form Classes (Languages), Contrastive Linguistics, Language Proficiency, Linguistic Theory, Linguistic Input, Task Analysis, Language Tests, Likert Scales, Language Universals, Student Attitudes
Language Institute of Thammasat University. The Prachan Campus, 2 Prachan Road, Bangkok 10200 Thailand. e-mail: learnjournal@gmail.com; Web site: https://www.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/learn
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Thailand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A