Can elicited imitation be used to measure grammatical development : a cross-sectional study of L2 Swedish within the framework of the Processability Theory
Author
Summary, in English
Abstract
The aim of the thesis was to examine whether or not the elicited imitation test can be used as a valid tool for measuring developmental sequences of grammatical structures in the production of L2 Swedish derived from the Processability Theory (PT, Pienemann, 1998). The thesis aimed to answer the following questions: Will the participants follow the predicted implicational pattern of the developmental stages of PT in both the elicited data and the free production data? If they do not, are there any differences between the participants’ results of the elicited data and the free production data? Are there any participants who can process a later stage without a prerequisite stage in the two sets of data? The elicited data was collected by recording nine L2-learners of Swedish imitating 29 model sentences pre-recorded by an L1-speaker of Swedish. The sentences include grammatical structures of stages 2-5 of PT i.e. tense marking on the verb (stage 2), attributive agreement (stage 3), predicative agreement and inversion (stage 4), and placement of the negator and differentiation of main clause and subordinate clause word order (stage 5). The participants were all students of L2 Swedish at Lund University, who had studied Swedish for a little more than one month to a little more than six years. The participants also supplied one student paper from their L2 Swedish-classes, which constitute the free production data. The free production data was analysed for the same grammatical structures as the elicited data in order for a comparison to be carried out. The results of the elicited imitation data and the free production data demonstrate that the elicited imitation test can provide information about grammatical structures which may not be present in free production data. Results such as an order of emergence of predicative agreement and inversion found in free production data cannot be found in elicited imitation since stimuli of the structures are provided in this data. While it is indicated that the elicited imitation test used in this thesis needs further modification in order for it to function as a standalone measurement of L2-learners’ development of their interlanguage grammar, the test is found to be a suitable complement to free production data. The results do not exclude the potential of creating such an elicited imitation test for the future of second language acquisition research.
The aim of the thesis was to examine whether or not the elicited imitation test can be used as a valid tool for measuring developmental sequences of grammatical structures in the production of L2 Swedish derived from the Processability Theory (PT, Pienemann, 1998). The thesis aimed to answer the following questions: Will the participants follow the predicted implicational pattern of the developmental stages of PT in both the elicited data and the free production data? If they do not, are there any differences between the participants’ results of the elicited data and the free production data? Are there any participants who can process a later stage without a prerequisite stage in the two sets of data? The elicited data was collected by recording nine L2-learners of Swedish imitating 29 model sentences pre-recorded by an L1-speaker of Swedish. The sentences include grammatical structures of stages 2-5 of PT i.e. tense marking on the verb (stage 2), attributive agreement (stage 3), predicative agreement and inversion (stage 4), and placement of the negator and differentiation of main clause and subordinate clause word order (stage 5). The participants were all students of L2 Swedish at Lund University, who had studied Swedish for a little more than one month to a little more than six years. The participants also supplied one student paper from their L2 Swedish-classes, which constitute the free production data. The free production data was analysed for the same grammatical structures as the elicited data in order for a comparison to be carried out. The results of the elicited imitation data and the free production data demonstrate that the elicited imitation test can provide information about grammatical structures which may not be present in free production data. Results such as an order of emergence of predicative agreement and inversion found in free production data cannot be found in elicited imitation since stimuli of the structures are provided in this data. While it is indicated that the elicited imitation test used in this thesis needs further modification in order for it to function as a standalone measurement of L2-learners’ development of their interlanguage grammar, the test is found to be a suitable complement to free production data. The results do not exclude the potential of creating such an elicited imitation test for the future of second language acquisition research.
Department/s
Publishing year
2016
Language
English
Full text
Document type
Student publication for Bachelor's degree
Topic
- Languages and Literatures
Keywords
- second language acquisition
- free production
- processability theory
- elicited imitation test
- Swedish as a second language
Supervisor
- Gisela Håkansson