Investigating the Acquisition of Russian Motional Prefixes in L1 English Speakers
Datum
2014-08
Autor:innen
Josephson, Gabrielle
Zeitschriftentitel
ISSN der Zeitschrift
Bandtitel
Verlag
University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
Many Russian language teachers have claimed Verbs of Motion (VoM) and
their affiliated prefixes to be an exceptionally difficult category for native English
speakers to learn. Evidence for this, however, has been primarily anecdotal, and Second
Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers have only recently started to conduct
empirical investigations of the domain. The present study aimed to review the current
body of empirical literature adapting methods from meta-analysis. Although metaanalyses
traditionally rely on statistical analyses, the present study used the format of a
meta-analysis coding sheet to organize relevant variables and narrative results. Gaps in
the coding sheet indicated potential areas for new research perspectives and designs.
The results were organized into categories based on the independent variables of
linguistic feature, speaker type, and task modality. Linguistic features were considered
because there are errors that can originate from the grammatical differences of Russian
and English in addition to potential issues caused by the internal complexities of
multiple grammatical features appearing on a single verb form. Aspect was of particular
interest in the present study because the Russian VoM have a different aspectual paradigm than other Russian verbs. The coding sheet indicated that attempting to
control for specific grammatical features was often outside the scope of the studies used
in the meta-analysis. Comparing different speaker types—particularly second language
and heritage learners—gave insight into how age of acquisition and language exposure
affects acquisition. The present study only included one study on heritage speakers, but
went on to hypothesize why incorporating other research methodologies into heritage
speakers studies might be useful. Lastly, task modality shows how proficiencies in
various skills, such as speaking, comprehension, or metalinguistic knowledge, could be
mismatched. Regarding this variable, one of the main points that the coding sheet
highlighted was that the studies used in the meta-analysis were mostly studies on
production skills. Overall, these results indicated that the current body of research
might benefit from a) research designs that control for both VoM-specific and nonspecific
verbal features; b) consideration of the role of explicit and implicit knowledge
in the comparison of heritage and second language speakers; and c) more research
designs that target comprehension and metalinguistic skills. The scope of the study can
potentially apply to broader SLA theory, Russian language pedagogy, and language
typology theories. New directions include extending the literature review with the
incorporation of adult first language studies and conducting new SLA experiments on
the topic.
Beschreibung
62 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Linguistics and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2014.
Schlagwörter
L2 Russian, L1 English, Motion Verbs, Motion Prefixes, Meta-analysis, Aspect