The aim of this study is to answer to questions of how the null subject parameter properties in Turkish are reorganized by Turkish learners of English and whether there is a relationship between the null subject parameter properties in acquiring them. Firstly, a pilot study was conducted to detect the possible inadequacy in data collecting methods. Following the pilot study, a main study was conducted in order to answer the research questions.Thirty-four intermediate and thirty-four upper-intermediate students from METU English Preparation Department participated in the study. Along with these two proficiency groups, a control group of native speakers also contributed to the study whose answers were taken as criteria in evaluating students answers. Two types of tests were used: a 30item grammaticality judgment test and a 17item dialogue task. the test results were analyzed using a statistical program. In the end, it was found that students acquire the properties independently and as their proficiency levels increase, the acquisition of those properties also increases. However, it was also seen that students were not able to acquire these properties which was thought to be a result of parametric difference between Turkish and English. In order to overcome these acquisition problems, some teaching techniques were suggested in the conclusion part.

THE USE OF PREPOSITIONS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROCESS This thesis investigates the use of three most frequent prepositions by Turkish learners of English at intermediate level of proficiency. The aim of the present study is to find out which differences between prepositions and their corresponding postpositions or case suffixes constitute difficulty on the part of second language learners. This study also examines the possible reasons of the errors/ mistakes pertaining to &lsquo / in&rsquo / , &lsquo / on&rsquo / , &lsquo / at&rsquo / by native speakers of Turkish with intermediate level of proficiency in English. To fulfill the purpose of the study the participants of the study were recorded in natural classroom environment and the recorded data were transcribed. The compiled corpus was examined by two native speakers of English and the researcher. The data was classified under four main categories for each preposition inquired: (i) correct usage, (ii) misuse (i.e., instead of &lsquo / on&rsquo / , for instance, students use &lsquo / in&rsquo / or &lsquo / at&rsquo / e.g., in television ), (iii) overuse (i.e., no preposition is required in the context but the students use one, e.g., I am going at home now), (iv) omission (i.e., a preposition is needed but the students do not use one, e.g., We go holiday). At the end of these analyses, the problematic contexts related to the use of the prepositions &lsquo / in&rsquo / , &lsquo / on&rsquo / , &lsquo / at&rsquo / for TIME and PLACE were identified. For detailed analysis of each category two tools - the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPPS) and the Computerized Language Analysis Child Language Data Exchange System (CLAN CHILDES) were used. Results indicate that Turkish learners of English produce erroneous forms of prepositions in second language acquisition process and the underlying reasons of these errors/mistakes is the interference of native language.

The primary goal of this thesis was to test the validity of the Full Transfer Full Access (FTFA) Hypothesis on the acquisition of island constraints by Turkish learners of English. The FTFA Hypothesis claims that L2ers have access to UG even at the initial state, which is assumed to be the final state of L1, and there is a gradual restructuring of L2 grammar. The second goal was to investigate whether Turkish learners of English employ the same parsing strategies in bi-clausal wh-questions. If so, the results would support the Continuity Hypothesis arguing that Universal Parser is available in SLA. Four experiments were conducted in this study. The first two experiments were devised to shed light on the acquisition and processing of island constraints. Two experimental groups (30 intermediate and 30 advanced learners of English) and a control group (30 native speakers of English) were employed for these tests. The third and fourth experiments were administered to display whether there were similarities between the way native speakers of Turkish and English resolve ambiguities and whether island constraints were operative in Turkish. 30 native speakers of Turkish participated in these experiments. The results showed that different processing strategies for the resolution of ambiguities were employed in English and Turkish and island constraints were not operative in Turkish. Besides, Turkish learners of English had access to UG and there was a developmental pattern for the restructuring of L2 grammar. Furthermore, a gradual approximation to the native speakers&rsquo / parsing strategies was observed.

Univ., Diss.--Hamburg, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-170).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-292). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 2001. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: Ali Alalou, Dept. of Foreign Language & Literatures . Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Linguistics." Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on December 4, 2009). At head of title screen : University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.