SINGLE AND MULTIPLE WH-QUESTIONS ASYMMETRY IN ADULT CHINESE SPEAKERS` L2 ENGLISH

Abstract

Researchers working within the interfaces framework (Sorace and Filiaci 2006; Sorace 2011) argue that properties involving interaction between linguistic properties and other cognitive domains may pose greater difficulty to end-state second language (L2) learners than properties belonging to language faculty components. Other researchers see the problems as internal (Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou 2007). The current study investigates two hypotheses in relation to the acquisition of single and multiple wh-questions in simple and complex sentence structures in L2 English. Ninety adult L1 Chinese speakers of highly proficient L2 English together with twenty-one native English speakers were invited to take part in an acceptability judgment test. The results indicate that caution is required in interpreting failure to attain native-like knowledge as monolithic. It is argued that the results are consistent with the Interpretability Hypothesis of Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou (2007). In particular, following Hawkins and Hattori (2006), we speculate that the asymmetry in English-Chinese interlanguage grammars is the result of the inaccessibility of an uninterpretable syntactic feature [uwh:] in L2 English coupled with the transfer of wh-topicalization from L1 Chinese.

以介面理論框架的文獻（Sorace and Filiaci 2006; Sorace 2011）論證涉及語言屬性（linguistic properties）與其他認知域（cognitive domains）的互動可能比語言能力要素（language faculty components）予終階二語學習者帶來更大困難。其他研究視其為內部因素（Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou 2007）。本研究探究兩項假設，乃涉及單句和複句之單元和多項wh-疑問詞的二語英語習得。90位二語英語程度極好的華語母語者和21位英語母語者一同作語法判斷測驗，其結果顯示於解釋類母語（native-like）知識視作整體時失敗是需要謹慎的。其結果被認為與Tsimpli和Dimitrakopoulou（2007）的解釋性假設（Interpretability Hypothesis）一致。據Hawkin和Hattori（2006），我們推測在中－英中介語語法的非對稱現象是二語英語加上自母語華語的wh-主題化（wh-topicalization）的遷移中不可解釋特徵（uninterpretable syntactic features）﹝uwh：﹞的不可達性所帶來的結果。