Culture, thought worldview and language have been
discussed for a long time in different fields from various
perspectives. However, the basis of this study is the view
of language as both the product and producer of people just
as people are the producer and product of language. Each
language requires of those who use it, a particular way of
viewing reality. The structure of language containing a
particular worldview therefore must influence how people
learn and acquire a second language. The purpose of this
study is to test this assumption about worldview in adult
second language acquisition. The main concern is whether or
not the native English speakers' worldview influences their
ability to learn Chinese as a second language. The focus of
this investigation is the Aspect marker -le, which
represents a different way of observing action when
compared to Tense used in English.
Chinese is a context sensitive language. The way of
perceiving action is in terms of Aspect, which is to
observe an action within an event from a specific point of
view without considering Speech-time. In contrast, English
is less context sensitive, and its way of perceiving action
is more precise and time-conscious, in terms of Tense.
The results of the investigation of a group of native-
English-speakers learning Chinese as a second language
reveals that the worldview they have in observing action is
shaped by their native tongue and interferes with their use
of the Chinese Aspect marker -le. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28373 |
| Date | 07 August 1997 |
| Creators | Yang, Li-qiong |
| Contributors | Young, John A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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