<p>Previous research has shown that the type of ditransitive
sentence preferred by English speakers in a particular linguistic context is
significantly influenced by the relative ‘givenness’ of the post verbal
arguments (i.e. the assumption that the referent of a linguistic expression is
known to the speaker/hearer). This ‘givenness constraint’ has also been shown
to play a role in the ditransitive sentence preferences of bilingual English
speakers. Some have claimed that the realization of the givenness constraint in
the ditransitive sentence preferences of bilingual English
speakers is significantly influenced by the characteristics of their dominant language;
however, no studies that I am aware of have explicitly compared the preferences
of speakers whose dominant languages feature different sets of ditransitive
sentence types, making this claim difficult to evaluate. Additionally, the
effects of task type (i.e. the experimental task(s) employed by a particular
study), and variables related to speakers’ experience with English and English
proficiency, relative to language background are unclear. This study attempts
to clarify the role of language background in the realization of the givenness
constraint by recruiting three groups of English speakers: German-English
bilingual speakers living in Germany, Spanish-English bilingual speakers living
in Mexico, and monolingual English speakers living in the United States. The
three groups completed three tasks, all of which were administered over the
internet: a scalar acceptability judgement task, a forced choice task, and a
self-paced reading task. The results from the two bilingual groups showed
significant effects of language background, even after factors related to
English proficiency and English experience were taken into account. The results
support an interpretation where language background plays a significant role in
the realization of the givenness constraint on bilingual speakers’ ditransitive sentence
preferences. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/14757954 |
| Date | 23 July 2021 |
| Creators | Joshua David Weirick (10948092) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Language_Background_and_the_Realization_of_the_Information_Structure_Constraints_on_English_Ditransitive_Constructions_Evidence_from_Monolingual_and_Bilingual_Speakers/14757954 |
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