Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language: focus on referential and pragmatic constraints
Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language: focus on referential and pragmatic constraints
This study re-examines the L2 acquisition of referential and pragmatic properties of null and overt subject pronouns by advanced English learners of Spanish under the assumption that both forms display levels of complexity at the syntax-pragmatics interface. Our main hypothesis is that null subjects should be as difficult to acquire as overt subjects, challenging current generative accounts (e.g. the ‘Interface Hypothesis’) in which the acquisition of null subjects is problem-free. Data obtained by a group of 20 advanced English speakers of Spanish in a Picture Verification Task and a Context-Matching Preference Task corroborate this hypothesis. Results show that L2 speakers over-accept null subjects and find it difficult to reject them when an overt pronoun is preferred by the controls. We propose that they may be using null subjects as a default form as they have an incomplete knowledge of the pragmatic constraints governing the use of pro in context.
Spanish, syntax-pragmatics interface, null subjects, topic shift
33-62
Clements, Maria
fd1d49c6-f98b-4be7-8080-5edb19fe2e1a
Dominguez, Laura
9c1bf2b4-b582-429b-9e8a-5264c4b7e63f
1 March 2017
Clements, Maria
fd1d49c6-f98b-4be7-8080-5edb19fe2e1a
Dominguez, Laura
9c1bf2b4-b582-429b-9e8a-5264c4b7e63f
Clements, Maria and Dominguez, Laura
(2017)
Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language: focus on referential and pragmatic constraints.
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 7 (1), .
(doi:10.1075/lab.14012.cle).
Abstract
This study re-examines the L2 acquisition of referential and pragmatic properties of null and overt subject pronouns by advanced English learners of Spanish under the assumption that both forms display levels of complexity at the syntax-pragmatics interface. Our main hypothesis is that null subjects should be as difficult to acquire as overt subjects, challenging current generative accounts (e.g. the ‘Interface Hypothesis’) in which the acquisition of null subjects is problem-free. Data obtained by a group of 20 advanced English speakers of Spanish in a Picture Verification Task and a Context-Matching Preference Task corroborate this hypothesis. Results show that L2 speakers over-accept null subjects and find it difficult to reject them when an overt pronoun is preferred by the controls. We propose that they may be using null subjects as a default form as they have an incomplete knowledge of the pragmatic constraints governing the use of pro in context.
Text
Clements & Dominguez 2016 preprint.docx
- Author's Original
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 January 2016
Published date: 1 March 2017
Additional Information:
This article's was shortened in the published issue's table of contents to "Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language"
Keywords:
Spanish, syntax-pragmatics interface, null subjects, topic shift
Organisations:
Modern Languages and Linguistics
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 372405
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372405
ISSN: 1879-9264
PURE UUID: 6b478d6d-253b-43dc-bb82-04bda7dfc9be
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Date deposited: 10 Dec 2014 16:39
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:22
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