Cover not available
Article published In:
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 3:2 (2013) ► pp.117–149

Existential quantifiers in second language acquisition

A feature reassembly account

| University of Sheffield
| University of York
Lardiere’s (2005, 2008, 2009) Feature Reassembly Hypothesis proposes that L2 acquisition involves reconfiguring the sets of lexical features that occur in the native language into feature bundles appropriate to the L2. This paper applies the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis to findings from recent research into the L2 acquisition of existential quantifiers. It firstly provides a feature-based, crosslinguistic account of polarity item any in English, and its equivalents — wh-existentials — in Chinese, Korean and Japanese. We then test predictions built on the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis, about how learners map target existential quantifiers in the L2 input onto feature sets from their L1, and how they then reassemble these feature sets to better match the target. The findings, which are largely compatible with the predictions, show that research that focuses on the specific processes of first mapping and then feature reassembly promises to lead to a more explanatory account of development in L2 acquisition.
Keywords: second language acquisition, features, existential quantifiers, polarity items, English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, wh-words, mapping, feature reassembly
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.‘Any’ in English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese
    • 2.1Polarity sensitive existential quantifiers
      • 2.1.1 English ‘any’
      • 2.1.2‘Any’ in Chinese
      • 2.1.3A proposal for licensing of polarity-sensitive existential quantifiers in English and Chinese
    • 2.2‘Any’ in Korean and Japanese: No distributional restrictions
    • 2.3Summary
  • 3.The L2 learnability problems
    • 3.1Step 1: Mapping
    • 3.2Step 2: Feature reassembly
    • 3.3Predictions
  • 4.L2 Studies of ‘any’
    • 4.1L2 Korean
    • 4.2L2 Chinese
    • 4.3L2 English
    • 4.4Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 May 2013
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.3.2.01gil
References (50)
References
Aoun, J., & Li, A.Y.-H. (2003). Essays on the representational and derivational nature of grammar: The diversity of wh-constructions. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Artusi, A., Manin, G.J., & McCallum, A. (2008). Engage, level 31. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BBC Languages. (2012). Real Chinese: Introducing yourself. Retrieved from [URL] Google Scholar
Cheng, L.L.-S. (1994). Wh-words as polarity items. In Chinese Language and Linguistics II, Symposium Series of Institute of History and Philology (pp. 615–640). Taiwan: Academia Sinica.Google Scholar
Cheung, H.-N.S., Liu, S.-Y., & Shih, L.-L. (1994). A practical Chinese grammar. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Choi, M.H. (2009). The acquisition of wh-in-situ constructions in second language acquisition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Chomsky, N. (1995). The minimalist program. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cole, P., & Hermon, G. (1998). The typology of wh-movement: wh-questions in Malay. Syntax, 11, 221–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dekydtspotter, L., Sprouse, R.A., & Swanson, K.A.B. (2001). Reflexes of the mental architecture in second-language acquisition: the interpretation of combien extractions in English-French interlanguage. Language Acquisition, 9(9), 175–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giannakidou, A. (1997). The landscape of polarity items. Groningen: Groningen Dissertations in Linguistics.Google Scholar
. (2001). The meaning of free choice. Linguistics and Philosophy, 24(6), 659–735. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2006). Only, emotive factive verbs, and the dual nature of polarity dependency. Language, 821, 575–603. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gil, K.-H., & Marsden, H. (2010). Semantics before syntax: L2 knowledge of anyone by Korean speaking learners. In M. Iverson, T. Judy, I. Ivanov, J. Rothman, R. Slabakova, & M. Tyzna (Eds.), Proceedings of the Mind-Context Divide Workshop (pp. 40–51). Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Gil, K.-H., & Tsoulas, G. (2013). Features, concord and quantification. In K. Gil, S. Harlow, & G. Tsoulas (Eds.), Strategies of quantification (pp. 155–172). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gil, K.-H., Marsden, H., & Whong, M. (2011). L2 acquisition of any: Negative evidence, negative implicatures and negative L1 transfer. In G. Granena, J. Koeth, S. Lee-Ellis, A. Lukyanchenko, G.P. Botana, & E. Rhoades (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 2010 Second Language Research Forum: Reconsidering SLA research, dimensions, and directions (pp. 29–39). Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Gil, K.-H., Marsden, H., & Whong, M. (in press). Can explicit grammar instruction serve as evidence for L2 grammar restructuring? In S. Stavrakaki, X. Konstantinopoulou, & M. Lalioti (Eds.), Advances in language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Gill, K.-H. (2004). Wh quantification in Korean, Japanese and Malayalam: A comparative view. York Papers in Linguistics Series, 2(1), 109–135. University of York.Google Scholar
Gill, K.-H., Harlow, S., & Tsoulas, G. (2007). Distributivity and quantification in Korean. York Papers in Linguistics Series, 2(7), 21–44. University of York.Google Scholar
Hughes, J., & Jones, C. (2011). Practical grammar, level 21. Andover, Hants: Heinle CENGAGE Learning.Google Scholar
Jun, S.-A., & Oh, M. (1996). A prosodic analysis of three types of wh-phrases in Korean. Language and Speech, 391, 37–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, S.W. (1989). Wh-phrases in Korean and Japanese are QPs. In P. Branigan, J. Gaulding, M. Kubo, & K. Murasugi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1st Student Conference in Linguistics (SCIL 1) (pp. 119–138). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Klima, E. (1964). Negation in English. In J.A. Fodor & J. Katz (Eds.), The structure of language (pp. 246–323). Englwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Kuroda, S.-Y. (1965). Generative grammatical studies in the Japanese language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Ladusaw, W.A. (1979). Polarity sensitivity as inherent scope relations. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Lardiere, D. (2005). On morphological competence. In L. Dekydtspotter, R.A. Sprouse, & A. Liljestrand (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2004) (pp. 178–192). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
. (2008). Feature assembly in second language acquisition. In J.M. Liceras, H. Zobl, & H. Goodluck (Eds.), The role of formal features in second language acquisition (pp. 106–140). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
. (2009). Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 251, 173–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Learn Chinese. (2012). Learn Chinese. Retrieved from [URL] Google Scholar
Li, C.N., & Thompson, S.A. (1981). Mandarin Chinese: A function reference grammar. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, Y.-H.A. (1992). Indefinite wh in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 11, 125–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lin, J.-W. (1998). On existential polarity wh-phrases in Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 71, 219–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linebarger, M. (1980). The grammar of negative polarity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
. (1987). Negative polarity and grammatical representation. Linguistics and Philosophy, 101, 325–387. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marsden, H. (2009). Distributive quantifier scope in English-Japanese and Korean- Japanese interlanguage. Language Acquisition, 161, 135–177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nishigauchi, T. (1990). Quantification in the theory of grammar. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norman, J. (1988). Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Philip, W. (2002). Dutch teenagers’ SLA of English any . Linguistics in the Netherlands, 191, 129–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Riley, D., & Hughes, J. (2010). Practical grammar, level 11. Andover, Hants: Heinle CENGAGE Learning.Google Scholar
Schwartz, B.D., & Sprouse, R.A. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, 121, 40–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soh, H. (2009). Speaker presupposition and mandarin chinese sentence-final le: a unified analysis of the “change of state” and the “contrary to expectation” reading. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 271, 623–657. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Song, H.S., & Schwartz, B.D. (2009). Testing the fundamental difference hypothesis: L2 adult, L2 child, and L1 child comparisons in the acquisition of Korean wh-constructions with negative polarity items. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 311, 323–361. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Song, M.S. (2003). The first and second language acquisition of negative polarity items in English and Korean. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, HI.
Szabolcsi, A. (2004). Positive polarity — negative polarity. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 221, 409–452. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, H., & Tsoulas, G. (2006). Ellipsis and negative polarity. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Umeda, M. (2008). Second language acquisition of Japanese wh-constructions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Wang, Y.-F.F., & Hsieh, M.-L. (1996). A syntactic study of the Chinese negative polarity item renhe . Cahiers de Linguistique–Asie Orientale, 251, 35–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yip, P.-C., & Rimmington, D. (1997). Chinese: An essential grammar. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Yuan, B. (2010). Domain-wide or variable-dependent vulnerability of the semantics-syntax interface in L2 acquisition? Evidence from wh-words used as existential polarity words in L2 Chinese grammars. Second Language Research, 261, 219–260. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zwarts, F. (1995). Nonveridical contexts. Linguistic Analysis, 251, 286–312.Google Scholar
. (1998). Three types of polarity. In F. Hamm & E. Hinrichs (Eds.), Plurality and quantification (pp. 177–238). Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (25)

Cited by 25 other publications

Llop Naya, Ares, Eloi Puig-Mayenco & Anna Paradís
2024. The acquisition of Polarity Items in L3/Ln Catalan by speakers of English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish: implications for L3/Ln development theorising and language teaching. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Miyamoto, Yoichi, Koichi Otaki, Chie Nakamura & Noriaki Yusa
2024. Chapter 20. On the nature of operators in the grammar of L1 Chinese learners of L2 Japanese. In Multilingual Acquisition and Learning [Studies in Bilingualism, 67], ► pp. 529 ff. DOI logo
Chekili, Ferid
2023. Teaching English to Arab learners. Pedagogical Linguistics 4:1 ► pp. 98 ff. DOI logo
Kume, Keisuke & Heather Marsden
2023. L2 acquisition of definiteness in Japanese floating numeral quantifiers. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 13:3 ► pp. 409 ff. DOI logo
Rankin, Tom & Thomas Wagner
2023. The acquisition of the negative polarity item any in L2 English by L1 German speakers. Journal of the European Second Language Association 7:1 ► pp. 46 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jia
2023. Conclusion. In Interfaces and Features in Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 273 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jia
2023. Discussion. In Interfaces and Features in Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 207 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jia
2023. Theoretical Frameworks and Related Studies. In Interfaces and Features in Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jia
2023. Linguistic Analyses of Negation in Chinese, English, and Korean. In Interfaces and Features in Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 45 ff. DOI logo
Kimura, Takayuki
2022. Explaining the difficulty with L2 acquisition of scope interpretation by speakers of a scope-rigid language. In Generative SLA in the Age of Minimalism [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 67], ► pp. 41 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Jia & Yuet Hung Cecilia Chan
2021. A feature-based approach to the acquisition of L2 Chinese negation by L1-English and L1-Korean learners. Lingua 252 ► pp. 103018 ff. DOI logo
Dudley, Amber & Roumyana Slabakova
2020. Aspectual contrasts in the Englishpresent tense revisited. Pedagogical Linguistics 1:1 ► pp. 66 ff. DOI logo
Dudley, Amber & Roumyana Slabakova
2021. L2 Knowledge of the Obligatory French Subjunctive: Offline Measures and Eye Tracking Compared. Languages 6:1 ► pp. 31 ff. DOI logo
Kim, Sujeong, Heejeong Ko & Hyun-Kwon Yang
2020. Telicity and mode of merge in L2 acquisition of resultatives. Language Acquisition 27:2 ► pp. 117 ff. DOI logo
Rankin, Tom & Melinda Whong
2020. Grammatical Concepts for Pedagogical Grammar. In Formal Linguistics and Language Education [Educational Linguistics, 43], ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Slabakova, Roumyana, Tania Leal, Amber Dudley & Micah Stack
2020. Generative Second Language Acquisition, DOI logo
Aljadani, Anwar S.
2018. Second Language Acquisition of the English Dative Alternation by Native Speakers of Arabic. Journal of Language and Cultural Education 6:1 ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
Marsden, Heather, Melinda Whong & Kook-Hee Gil
2018. WHAT’S IN THE TEXTBOOK AND WHAT’S IN THE MIND. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 40:1 ► pp. 91 ff. DOI logo
Cho, Jacee
2017. The acquisition of different types of definite noun phrases in L2-English. International Journal of Bilingualism 21:3 ► pp. 367 ff. DOI logo
SHIMANSKAYA, ELENA & ROUMYANA SLABAKOVA
2017. Re-assembling objects: a new look at the L2 acquisition of pronominal clitics. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 20:3 ► pp. 512 ff. DOI logo
Mai, Ziyin & Boping Yuan
2016. Uneven reassembly of tense, telicity and discourse features in L2 acquisition of the Chinese shì … de cleft construction by adult English speakers. Second Language Research 32:2 ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo
Cho, Jacee & Roumyana Slabakova
2015. A Feature-based Contrastive Approach to the L2 Acquisition of Specificity. Applied Linguistics ► pp. amv029 ff. DOI logo
Tracy-Ventura, Nicole & Florence Myles
2015. The importance of task variability in the design of learner corpora for SLA research. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research 1:1 ► pp. 58 ff. DOI logo
Gil, Kook-Hee, Heather Marsden & Melinda Whong
2013. Quantifiers: Form and Meaning in Second Language Development. In Universal Grammar and the Second Language Classroom [Educational Linguistics, 16], ► pp. 139 ff. DOI logo
Gil, Kook-Hee, Heather Marsden & Melinda Whong
2019. The meaning of negation in the second language classroom: Evidence from ‘any’. Language Teaching Research 23:2 ► pp. 218 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 september 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.