Double object constructions in L3 English: an exploratory study of morphological and semantic constraints

The present study examines the acquisition of double object constructions (DOCs) (Susan gave Peter an apple) by 90 Basque/Spanish learners of English as a third language (L3). The aim of this study was to explore whether (i) learners established a distinction when accepting DOCs vs. prepositional ph...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Imaz Aguirre, Ainara, García Mayo, Pilar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/42337
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10201/42337
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Semántica inglesa
Lexicografía inglesa
81 - Lingüística y lenguas
Descripción
Sumario:The present study examines the acquisition of double object constructions (DOCs) (Susan gave Peter an apple) by 90 Basque/Spanish learners of English as a third language (L3). The aim of this study was to explore whether (i) learners established a distinction when accepting DOCs vs. prepositional phrase constructions (PPCs) (Susan gave an apple to Peter), (ii) they were sensitive to the morphological and semantic constraints found in English DOCs and (iii) proficiency effects could be observed. Results from a self-paced reading task and an auto-paced reading task showed that Basque/Spanish learners were more accurate in morphosyntactic properties than in semantic ones. Even though learners showed difficulties in both morphological and semantic constraints, these seem to be overcome by increasing proficiency.