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Part of
Teachability and Learnability across Languages
Edited by Ragnar Arntzen, Gisela Håkansson, Arnstein Hjelde and Jörg-U. Keßler
[Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching 6] 2019
► pp. 97–118

Chapter 5
The elicitation of oral language production data

An exploration of the Elicited Imitation Task

ORCID logo | Ghent University

To determine developmental stages, research based on the framework of Processability Theory (PT) commonly examines data from naturally occurring speech. This chapter will investigate whether experimentally elicited data can also be used as a valid basis for determining developmental stages. It reports on a study that tested predictions derived from PT regarding developmental stages of case markers in L2 German. The results show that data obtained from an Elicited Imitation Task (EIT) yields the same developmental order, as well as variation, that has previously been found in naturally occurring data. The study therefore suggests that the EIT affords a valid method to examine developmental stages. Positive and negative aspects of the elicited imitation task will be considered.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The EIT: Procedure
  • 3.Methodological challenge: Topicalization and functional case use in L2 German
  • 4.The study
    • Participants
    • Data elicitation task
    • Results
  • 5.Pros and cons of the EIT
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/palart.6.05bat
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