Cover not available
Part of
Generative SLA in the Age of Minimalism: Features, interfaces, and beyond
Edited by Tania Leal, Elena Shimanskaya and Casilde A. Isabelli
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 67] 2022
► pp. 41–66

Explaining the difficulty with L2 acquisition of scope interpretation by speakers of a scope-rigid language

| The University of Tokyo, Tokyo
This study explores the L2 acquisition of quantifier scope in English, a notably difficult property to acquire by speakers of a scope-rigid language like Japanese. This study examines the knowledge of universal quantifiers in English that Japanese Learners of English (JLEs) have, focusing on the distributivity and collectivity of the quantifiers. Results of a picture-based acceptability judgment task showed that JLEs had problems with scope judgments and interpreted every NP as a distributive/collective quantifier akin to all NPPL in the grammar of English native speakers. Thus, this study implies that issues with the L2 acquisition of scope ambiguity are rooted in a problem with the reassembly of quantificational features of universal quantifiers, in accord with Lardiere (2008, 2009).
Keywords: scope, quantifier, distributivity, collectivity, feature reassembly, uninterpretable feature
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Syntax of scope
    • 2.1English
    • 2.2Japanese
  • 3.Scope interpretation in L2 acquisition
    • 3.1Previous studies
    • 3.2Hypotheses
  • 4.Experiment
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Task
    • 4.3Predictions
  • 5.Results
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1JLEs’ knowledge on quantifiers and their scope
    • 6.2Evaluating the hypotheses
    • 6.3Implications
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.67.02kim
References (54)
References
Anderson, C. (2004). The structure and real-time comprehension of quantifier scope ambiguity (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Northwestern University, Illinois.
Aoun, J., & Li, Y.-H. A. (1993). Syntax of scope. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Beghelli, F., & Stowell, T. (1997). Distributivity and negation: The syntax of each and every. In A. Szabolcsi (Ed.), Ways of scope taking (pp. 71–107). Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bobaljik, J., & Wurmbrand, S. (2012). Word order and scope: Transparent interfaces and the 3/4 signature. Linguistic Inquiry, 43, 371–421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bošković, Ž. (2007). On the locality and motivation of Move and Agree: An even more minimal theory. Linguistic Inquiry, 38, 589–644. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, N. (2001). Derivation by phase. In M. J. Kenstowicz (Ed.), Ken Hale: A life in language (pp. 1–52). The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Chu, C-Y., Gabriele, A., & Minai, U. (2013). Acquisition of quantifier scope interpretation by Chinese-speaking learners of English. In C-Y. Chu, C. E. Coughlin, B. L. Prego, U. Minai, & A. Tremblay (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 5th Conference on Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition North America (GALANA 2012) (pp. 157–168). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Chung, E.-S. (2013). Sources of difficulty in L2 scope judgments. Second Language Research, 29, 285–310. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clahsen, H., & Felser, C. (2006). Grammatical processing in first and second language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 3–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Čulinović, D. (2013). Development of scopal ambiguities in L1-Japanese interlanguage English. In J. C. Amaro, T. Judy, & D. P. Cabo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2013) (pp. 22–31). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Fodor, J., & Sag, I. (1981). Referential and quantificational indefinites. Linguistics and Philosophy, 5, 355–398. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gil, K-H., & Marsden, H. (2013). Existential quantifiers in second language acquisition: A feature reassembly account. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3, 117–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hagstrom, P. (1998). Decomposing questions (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). MIT.
Hasebe, M. (2014). The acquisition of the wh-movement operation in English by Japanese EFL learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Yokohama National University.
Hawkins, R., & Hattori, H. (2006). Interpretation of English multiple wh-questions by Japanese speakers: A missing uninterpretable feature account. Second Language Research, 22, 269–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R., Al-Eid, S., Almahboob, I., Athanasopoulos, P., Chaengchenkit, R., Hu, J., Rezai, M., Jaensch, C., Jeon, Y., Jang, A., Leung, Y-KI., Matsunaga, K., Ortega, M., Sarko, G., Snape, N., & Velasco Zárate, K. (2006). Accounting for English article interpretation by L2 speakers. In S. Foster-Cohen, M. Medved Krajnovic, & J. Mihaljević Djigunović (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 6 (pp. 7–25). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holm S. (1979). A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6, 65–70.Google Scholar
Ionin, T., Ko, H., & Wexler, K. (2004). Article semantics in L2 Acquisition: The role of specificity. Language Acquisition, 12, 3–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ioup, G. (1975). Some universals for quantifier scope. In J. Kimball (Ed.), Syntax and semantics (Vol. 4, pp. 37–58). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ito, A. (2009). Nihonjin Eigogakushusha niyoru suuryoushi no shutoku [The acquisition of English quantifiers by Japanese speakers]. Eibeibungaku Kenkyu, 27, 145–161.Google Scholar
Kimura, T. (2013). The development of noun phrase structure in L2 acquisition (Unpublished BA thesis). Chuo University.
(2019). Quantifier raising in Japanese-English interlanguage (Unpublished manuscript). Chuo University.Google Scholar
(2022). Feature selection, feature reassembly, and the role of Universal Grammar: The acquisition of wh-questions by Japanese and Chinese learners of English (Unpublished PhD thesis). Chuo University.
Kimura, T., & Hirokawa, T. (2019). Exploring the syntactic structure of silence in Japanese-English interlanguage. Poster presented at Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition (GALA 14), Milan, Italy.Google Scholar
Kimura, T., & Wakabayashi, S. (2019). Articles and telicity: The grammar of early and intermediate L2 learners of English. Second Language, 18, 89–103.Google Scholar
Kitahara, H. (1996). Raising quantifiers without quantifier raising. In W. Abraham, S. D. Epstein, H. Thrainsson, & C. J-W. Zwart (Eds.), Minimal ideas: Syntactic studies in the minimalist framework (pp. 189–198). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kobuchi-Philip, M. (2009). Japanese MO: Universal, additive and NPI. Journal of Cognitive Science, 10, 172–194. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuroda, S.-Y. (1965). Generative grammatical studies in the Japanese language (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). MIT.
Lakoff, G. (1972). Linguistics and natural logic. Synthese, 22, 151–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lardiere, D. (2008). Feature-assembly in second language acquisition. In J. Liceras, H. Zobl, & H. Goodluck (Eds.), The role of formal features in second language acquisition (pp. 106–140). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
(2009). Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 25, 173–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maki, H., Sarenqimuge, Yoshimura, J., Makino, Y., Hasebe, M., Goto, K., Ito, T., Yumoto, Y., Oku, S., Hamasaki, M., Ueda, Y., Nagasue, K., Kasai, H., Munakata, T., & Dunton, J. (2010). The Minimal English Test: A revised version. In Korea Tesol (Ed.), Kotesol Proceedings 2009, (pp. 225–232). Korea Tesol.Google Scholar
Marsden, H. (2004). Quantifier scope in non-native Japanese: A comparative interlanguage study of Chinese, English, and Korean-speaking learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Durham.
(2009). Distributive quantifier scope in English-Japanese and Korean-Japanese interlanguage. Language Acquisition, 16, 135–177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
May, R. (1985). Logical form: Its structure and derivation. The MIT Press.Google Scholar
O’Grady, W. (2002). A linguistic approach to the study of language acquisition. Second Language, 1, 3–19.Google Scholar
Reinhart, T. (1997). Quantifier scope: How labor is divided between QR and choice functions. Linguistics and Philosophy, 20, 335–397. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sabbagh, J. (2007). Ordering and linearizing rightward movement. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 25, 349–401. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, M. (2012). Case checking/valuation in Japanese: Move, Agree or Merge? Nanzan Linguistics, 8, 109–127.Google Scholar
(2016). (A) Case for labeling: Labeling in languages without ϕ-feature agreement. The Linguistic Review, 33, 129–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shimoyama, J. (2006). Indeterminate phrase quantification in Japanese. Natural Language Semantics, 14, 139–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snape, N. (2006). The acquisition of the English determiner phrase by Japanese and Spanish learners of English (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Essex.
(2019). The acquisition of articles: The story so far. Second Language, 18, 7–24.Google Scholar
Sugawara, A., Kotek, H., Hackl, M., & Wexler, W. (2013). Long vs. short QR: Evidence from the acquisition of ACD. In S. Baiz, N. Goldman, & R. Hawkes (Eds.), Proceedings of the annual 37th Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 410–422). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Syrett, K., & Lidz, J. (2009). QR in child grammar: Evidence from antecedent-contained deletion. Language Acquisition, 16, 67–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Szabolcsi, A. (2010). Quantification. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Takahashi, D. (2002). Determiner raising and scope shift. Linguistic Inquiry, 33, 575–615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsimpli, I-M., & Dimitrakopoulou, M. (2007). The Interpretability Hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 23, 215–242. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vendler, Z. (1962). Each and every, any and all. Mind, 71, 145–160. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wakabayashi, S. (2021). A principle of economy in derivation in L2 grammar: Do everything in narrow syntax. Second Language Research, 37, 521–545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wu, M. J., & Ionin, T. (2018). L1-Mandarin L2-English speakers’ acquisition of English universal quantifier-negation scope. In M. M. Brown & B. Dailey (Eds.), Proceedings of the annual 43rd Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 716–729). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
(2019). L1-Mandarin L2-English learners’ acquisition of English inverse scope. Paper presented at Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA 15), Reno, Nevada, USA.
Yatsushiro, K. (2001). The distribution of mo and ka and its implications. In M. C. Cuervo., D. Harbour., K. Hiraiwa., & S. Ishihara (Eds.), MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 41: Formal Approaches to Japanese Linguistics 3 (pp. 181–198). The MIT Press.Google Scholar
(2009). The distribution of quantificational suffixes in Japanese. Natural Language Semantics, 17, 141–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Miura, Atsushi
2024. Chapter 9. Sensitivity to silently structured interveners. In Current Perspectives on Generative SLA - Processing, Influence, and Interfaces [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 70], ► pp. 220 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 october 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.