The first noun principle and non-canonical structures
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Daniel G. Tight [1]
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[1] University of Saint Thomas
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- Localización: Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics, ISSN-e 2199-3386, ISSN 1939-0238, Vol. 5, Nº. 2, 2012, págs. 351-368
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
This study investigated how L1 English adults interpret subject-verb-object (SVO), VSO, and VOS sentences in an L2. First- (n = 37), third- (n = 42), and fifth-semester (n = 28) Spanish learners heard 8 sentences of each type and indicated which noun was the subject. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant effects (p < .01) for word order and learner level. Fifth-semester participants consistently responded most correctly, but all levels were more accurate (p < .01) with SVO than both VSO and VOS sentences. First-semester learners also scored higher (p < .01) with VSO than VOS structures. Results suggest early influence of the First Noun Principle, dependence on a verb-centric word-order strategy, and growing awareness of the Spanish object marker.
