This thesis considers various questions about acceptability judgement tasks (AJTs). In Chapter 1, we compare the prevalent informal method of syntactic enquiry, researcher introspection, to formal judgement tasks. We randomly sample 200 sentences from Linguistic Inquiry and then compare the original author judgements to online AJT ratings. Sprouse et al., 2013, provided a similar comparison, but they limited their analysis to the comparison of sentence pairs and to extreme cases. We think a comparison at large, i.e. involving all items, is more sensible. We find only a moderate match between informal author judgements and formal online ratings and argue that the formal judgements are more reliable than the informal judgements. Further, the fact that many syntactic theories rely on questionable informal data calls the adequacy of those theories into question. In Chapter 2, we test whether ratings for constructions from spoken language and constructions from written language differ if presented as speech vs as text and if presented informally vs formally. We analyse the results with an LME model and find that neither mode of presentation nor formality are significant factors. Our results suggest that a speaker's grammatical intuition is fairly robust. In Chapter 3, we quantitatively compare regular AJT data to their Z-scores and ranked data. For our analysis, we test resampled data for significant differences in statistical power. We find that Z-scores and ranked data are more powerful than raw data across most common measurement methods. Chapter 4 examines issues surrounding a common similarity test, the TOST. It has long been unclear how to set its controlling parameter d. Based on data simulations, we outline a way to objectively set d. Further results suggest that our guidelines hold for any kind of data. The thesis concludes with an appendix on non-cooperative participants in AJTs.

Ting, Sum Pok. / "August 2011." / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-185). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.v / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.VI / LIST OF TABLES --- p.x / LIST OF FIGURE --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT STUDY --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- RESEARCH QUESTIONS OF THE PRESENT STUDY --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT STUDY --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS --- p.6 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Standardisation of English --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- World Englishes --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Non-standard English as a kind of deficiency --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- B. KACHRU'S AND SCHNEIDER'S DEVELOPMENTAL MODELS OF N EW VARIETIES OF ENGLISH --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- B. Kachru's three-stage developmental model of English --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Schneider's five-stage dynamic model of post-colonial Englishes --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- DEBATE OF H K E AS A N EW VARIETY --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- HKE as an autonomous variety --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The non-readiness of HKE as an autonomous variety --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4 --- DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN FEATURES AND ERRORS --- p.27 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- """Innovation"" and ""selection.""" --- p.27 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- "“Mistakes,´ح ""errors,"" ""deviations,"" and “features.´ح" --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Bamgbose's five factors in determining the status of language features --- p.29 / Chapter 2.5 --- FACTORS AFFECTING ACCEPTABILITY OF NON-NATIVE FEATURES --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Intelligibility --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Social prestige and stigma --- p.33 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Past experience and somatic markers --- p.33 / Chapter 2.6 --- STUDIES OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS LOCAL VARIETIES IN ASIA AND HONG KONG --- p.35 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Studies in the Asian context --- p.35 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Studies in the Hong Kong context --- p.37 / Chapter 2.7 --- GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF HKJE --- p.40 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Grammatical features identified in previous studies --- p.40 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- The targeted grammatical features in the present study --- p.42 / Chapter 2.8 --- SUMMARY --- p.46 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- METHODOLOGY --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1 --- RESEARCH QUESTIONS --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2 --- RESEARCH DESIGN --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3 --- TARGET PARTICIPANTS --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Selection criteria --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Respondents of the acceptability survey --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Interviewees of the semi-structured interview. --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4 --- INSTRUMENTATION --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Acceptability surveys --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- Rationale for employing acceptability surveys --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.1.2 --- Design of the acceptability surveys --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Semi-structured interviews --- p.58 / Chapter 3.4.2.1 --- Rationale for employing semi-structured interviews --- p.58 / Chapter 3.4.2.1 --- Design of the semi-structured interviews --- p.60 / Chapter 3.5 --- Two PHASES OF DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING --- p.61 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Quantitative phase --- p.62 / Chapter 3.5.1.1 --- Data collection --- p.62 / Chapter 3.5.1.2 --- Data analysis --- p.64 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Qualitative phase --- p.64 / Chapter 3.5.2.1 --- Case selection --- p.64 / Chapter 3.5.2.2 --- Interview protocol. --- p.66 / Chapter 3.5.2.3 --- Data collection --- p.68 / Chapter 3.5.2.4 --- Data analysis --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6 --- ETHICS --- p.70 / Chapter 3.7 --- LIMITATIONS --- p.71 / Chapter 3.8 --- SUMMARY --- p.72 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION - FACTORS AFFECTING ACCEPTABILITY OF THE TARGETED GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF HKE --- p.74 / Chapter 4.1 --- ACCEPTABILITY OF THE TARGETED GRAMMATICAL FEATURES AN OVERVIEW --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2 --- FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACCEPTABILITY OF THE TARGETED GRAMMATICAL FEATURES --- p.79 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Intelligibility of the expression --- p.80 / Chapter 4.2.1.1 --- Perceived completeness of meaning. --- p.80 / Chapter 4.2.1.2 --- Perceived complexity of the sentence structure and the idea expressed --- p.83 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Past experience of learning English in school --- p.86 / Chapter 4.2.2.1 --- Negative feelings towards the feature --- p.87 / Chapter 4.2.2.2 --- Perceived level of difficulty of the feature --- p.89 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Everyday exposure to English --- p.92 / Chapter 4.2.3.1 --- Prevalence of the grammar item --- p.93 / Chapter 4.2.3.2 --- Perceived familiarity with the feature --- p.95 / Chapter 4.2.3.3 --- Perceived distinctiveness of the feature as “Hong Kong style. ´ح --- p.97 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Contexts in which the features appear. --- p.98 / Chapter 4.2.4.1 --- "Computer-mediated communication in MSN, SMS, and Facebook." --- p.100 / Chapter 4.2.4.2 --- Daily face-to-face conversation --- p.105 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- Perceived competence and status of the users of the feature --- p.109 / Chapter 4.2.5.1 --- Perceived competence of the users of the feature --- p.109 / Chapter 4.2.5.2 --- Perceived social status of the users of the feature --- p.111 / Chapter 4.3 --- IMPLICATIONS FROM THE INTERVIEWS --- p.113 / Chapter 4.4 --- SUMMARY --- p.116 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION - PERCEIVED STATUS OF HKE --- p.118 / Chapter 5.1 --- AWARENESS OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE TARGETED GRAMMATICAL FEATURES --- p.118 / Chapter 5.2 --- INTERVIEWEES' PREFERRED VARIETY OF ENGLISH --- p.124 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Preference for standard native varieties of English --- p.125 / Chapter 5.2.1.1 --- Perceived international intelligibility of the targeted grammatical features --- p.127 / Chapter 5.2.1.2 --- Perceived public image of the varieties of English and their users --- p.129 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Low preference for standard native varieties of English --- p.132 / Chapter 5.2.2.1 --- Limited capability of the people in Hong Kong. --- p.132 / Chapter 5.2.2.2 --- Communicative effectiveness of the standard native varieties --- p.133 / Chapter 5.3 --- PERCEIVED STATUS OF HKE AS AN AUTONOMOUS VARIETY --- p.137 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- The perceived current status of HKE --- p.137 / Chapter 5.3.1.1 --- The lack of intention for the adoption of the non-standard features --- p.138 / Chapter 5.3.1.2 --- The lack of a unifying set offeatures --- p.140 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- The perceived future status of HKE --- p.142 / Chapter 5.3.2.1 --- Inevitability of becoming an autonomous variety. --- p.142 / Chapter 5.3.2.2 --- Perceived limited usage of English in Hong Kong --- p.143 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- The prospect of HKE as an autonomous variety --- p.144 / Chapter 5.3.3.1 --- Negative influence on English learning. --- p.144 / Chapter 5.3.3.2 --- The lack of ownership of English --- p.145 / Chapter 5.4 --- RECOGNITION OF THE TARGETED GRAMMATICAL FEATURES AS FEATURES OF HKE --- p.147 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- One standard for using English --- p.147 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Non-standard features as identity marker. --- p.150 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Ownership of English --- p.151 / Chapter 5.5 --- THE STATUS OF HKE IN BECOMING AN AUTONOMOUS VARIETY --- p.152 / Chapter 5.6 --- SUMMARY --- p.155 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- CONCLUSION --- p.157 / Chapter 6.1 --- ADDRESSING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS --- p.157 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Addressing research question 1: Acceptability of the targeted features --- p.157 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Addressing research question 2: Factors affecting acceptability --- p.159 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Addressing research question 3: Features or errors? --- p.162 / Chapter 6.1.4 --- Addressing research question 4: Perceived status of HKE --- p.164 / Chapter 6.2 --- IMPLICATIONS --- p.165 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Exposure to varieties of English --- p.166 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- The teaching of grammar in school --- p.168 / Chapter 6.3 --- LIMITATIONS --- p.172 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- English proficiency of the participants --- p.172 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- The modes and styles of English under investigation --- p.172 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- The methodological design --- p.173 / Chapter 6.4 --- DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES --- p.175 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and HKE --- p.175 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- Linguistic identity of local Hong Kong people --- p.176 / REFERENCE --- p.178 / Chapter APPENDIX I - --- SAMPLE OF ACCEPTABILITY SURVEY --- p.186 / Chapter APPENDIX II - --- INTERVIEW PROTOCOL --- p.191