Lili Wu - School of Foreign Languages, Huaiyin Normal University, Huai’an City, Jiangsu, China

This study examined the role of the native language (L۱) transfer in a non-native language (L۲) acquisition of the there-insertion construction at the syntax-semantics interface. Specifically, the study investigated if Mandarin EFL learners would make overgeneralization errors in the situation where an L۱ argument structure constitutes a superset of its L۲ counterpart. Verbs of existence and appearance (EAA) such as exist, appear are possible with the there-insertion construction in which the single argument remains in the underlying direct object position. In Mandarin, some verb classes also allow their single arguments to appear in the verb-subject (VS) order. For example, VEA and verbs of monadic change of state (COS) (die, escape) are compatible with the VS order. Some verbs of manner of motion (MOM) (run, swim) are also permissible with the construction. Seventy upper-intermediate and advanced L۱ Mandarin EFL learners and ۳۰ native English speakers participated in an acceptability judgement test, the results of which show that L۱ Mandarin EFL learners acquired native-like knowledge of the there-insertion construction with verbs of EAA, but they have difficulties recognizing the unacceptability of the there-insertion sentences with verbs of COS and MOM. Individual results by subjects show that it is possible to recover from L۱ transfer. Mandarin EFL learners start to unlearn the overgeneralization errors with MOM verbs by drawing on the semantic properties. The experimental results provide further evidence for the previous findings suggesting that the L۲ argument structure acquisition is constrained by L۱, and the recovery from L۱ transfer is also possible.

there-insertion construction, Mandarin EFL learners, L۱ transfer, argument structure, overgeneralization errors