I Disappoint You or You Disappoint Me: L2 Acquisition of English Psyche Verbs by Chinese EFL Learners

Abstract

English psych verbs behave differently from regular action verbs and thus typically cause a learning difficulty for a learner of a second or foreign language. While an action verb normally forms both an active and a passive construction, a psych verb entails restrictions. For a psych verb of type experiencer-theme (E-T), such as fear and enjoy, only an active construction is acceptable; for a psych verb of type theme-experiencer (T-E), such as disappoint and surprise, either an active or a passive construction is possible, but thematic structures differ. According to the Thematic Hierarchy, a passive construction with an experiencer subject is easier than, and thus becomes learnt before, an active construction with a theme subject. We examined whether this complication makes L2 acquisition of a psych verb different from, and more difficult than, a regular action verb, how psych verbs in the two subcategories are acquired by groups with varied proficiencies in English, and whether results of the current research conform to theories previously claimed by linguists. The results show that action verbs are easier than, and acquired before, psych verbs, and that, between the two subcategories, E-T verbs are acquired before T-E verbs. Among the participants in the three groups with varied English proficiencies, the advanced participants-graduate students with English as their major subject-performed best on verbs of all three types; intermediate participants who were senior students in secondary school, performed better than the beginning participants, i.e. junior students in secondary school, on the action verbs but not on psych verbs. Intermediate participants represented a transitional stage when learners undergo a period of confusing both psych verbs of two subtypes and the active-passive alternation in T-E verbs. L2 acquisition of English psych verbs by advanced and beginning learners reveals that the passive construction of T-E verbs is learned earlier than the active construction, in conformity with the prediction of the Thematic Hierarchy.

在英語中，心理動詞的作用與規則行為動詞十分不同，也因此對第二語或外語學習者帶來學習上的困擾。行為動詞正常來說具有主動與被動兩種形式，而心理動詞卻有限制。對於感受者-客體這類組合的心理動詞而言，像是恐懼或喜愛，只有主動式可以被接受。對於心理動詞中客體-感受者的組合，像是失望和驚訝，主動、被動形式則皆有可能，但是主題的結構卻有不同。根據語幹的多層結構，有著感受者為主詞的被動式較有著客體為主詞的主動式更容易形成，也因此較早被學習者習得。本研究檢視這樣的複雜性是否使得心理動詞的習得不同於、甚或困難於習得規則的行為動詞。除此之外，也關注心理動詞在以上的兩個類型中，是如何被不同英文程度的學習者所習得。並且，也關注於本研究結果是否能與之前語言學家所提出的理論吻合。本研究結果顯示，行為動詞較容易且較早被習得。且感受者-客體的動詞早於客體-感受者的動詞被習得。在三組程度不同的受試者中，程度屬高級的一組，也就是以英文為主修的研究生，在表現上優於其他三組。程度中等的受試者群組為中學三年級生，其在習得行為動詞的表現上也優於初級程度的受試者，而這群初級受試者的背景為中學的二年級學生。程度中等組受試的結果可代表學習者經歷了對於上述兩類心理動詞和被動主動變化的困擾。英文心理動詞的習得，從初級與高級學習者兩組來看，被動式的客體-感受者動詞比起主動式結構更早被習得，這也證實符合語幹多層結構的預測。