Using Talmys typological framework for the expression of motion events, the purpose of the present study is to investigate whether learning a second language that is typologically different from the learners first language (L1) would change how the learner pays attention to different aspects of motion events. In Study 1, the participants were monolingual English speakers, and L1 English learners of Japanese as a foreign language at two different proficiency levels (i.e., lower and higher). They were presented with target videos, and for each target video a Path-match and a Manner-match video, and were instructed to indicate which video was most like the target one. Given that English is an S-language, which conflates Manner and Motion in the main verb, and Japanese is a V-language, which conflates Path and Motion in the main verb, it was hypothesized that (1) the L1 English learners of Japanese would fixate longer on the Path-match videos than the monolingual English speakers, and (2) advanced L1 English learners of Japanese would fixate longer on the Path-match videos than the less advanced learners of Japanese. Both hypotheses were not confirmed by the findings. In Study 2, the participants were monolingual Japanese speakers and Japanese learners of English as a second language (L2) at two different proficiency levels (i.e. low and advanced). They were asked to do the same tasks as in Study 1. It was hypothesized that (1) the Japanese learners of English would fixate longer on the Manner-match videos than the monolingual Japanese speakers, and (2) advanced Japanese learners of English would fixate longer on the Manner-match videos than the less-advanced learners of English. Again, no significant differences were found among the three groups. The present study therefore suggests that in the domain of motion events, in contrast to what previous research has suggested, learning a second language that is typologically different from the learners first language may not result in any alteration of habitual attention on different aspects of an event.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-11032009-144946 |
| Date | 26 January 2010 |
| Creators | Luk, Pei-sui |
| Contributors | Alan Juffs, Yasuhiro Shirai, Natasha Tokowicz |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11032009-144946/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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