25.4892, Diss: Russian; Language Acquisition, Syntax: Savchenko: 'Second Language Acquisition of Russian Applicative Experiencers'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-25-4892. Wed Dec 03 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.4892, Diss: Russian; Language Acquisition, Syntax: Savchenko: 'Second Language Acquisition of Russian Applicative Experiencers'

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Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 21:39:16
From: Ulyana Savchenko [ulyanasa at gmail.com]
Subject: Second Language Acquisition of Russian Applicative Experiencers

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Institution: University of Toronto 
Program: Department of Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2014 

Author: Ulyana Savchenko

Dissertation Title: Second Language Acquisition of Russian Applicative
Experiencers 

Dissertation URL:  https://www.academia.edu/9189430/Second_Language_Acquisition_of_Russian_Applicative_Experiencers

Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): Russian (rus)


Dissertation Director(s):
Alexei Kochetov
Yves Roberge
Ronald Smyth

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis explores the topic of second language (L2) acquisition of Russian
applicative experiencers by English and Spanish learners. Applicative
experiencers appear with impersonal constructions based on psychological
(psych) or activity predicates in Russian. If the verb surfaces in its active
form, the nominative argument merges as an experiencer with psych verbs or an
agent with activity verbs; however, if the verb surfaces in its impersonal
(non-active) form, this gives rise to a dative experiencer with both types of
verbs, which renders these structures interpretationally intricate. These
experiencers are proposed to be arguments of a Super High Applicative head.
Applicative experiencers are thus argued to manifest yet another type of
Russian applicative argument in addition to other previously identified
applicatives (Markman 2007). A feature-based approach is then taken to
delineate the differences between Russian applicative experiencers and their
equivalents in English and Spanish, the two background languages of the
participants in our studies. Acquisition is also proposed to be understood
based on features, in particular on feature re/assembly, as advanced by
Lardiere (2009) in her Feature Reassembly Approach (FRA). According to FRA, L2
learners contrast feature configurations from their native grammars with those
of the L2, and analyze them by selecting, assembling and mapping the new
feature configurations onto appropriate L2 items. 
Thirteen advanced English learners, twenty-three advanced Spanish learners,
and a control group of native Russian speakers completed Grammaticality
Judgement and Semantic Judgement tasks. The results support featural L2
learning; however, the results also show that English learners had more
difficulties than Spanish learners in interpreting the target structures,
which goes against certain predictions of the FRA. The overall finding
suggests that differences in L2 acquisition patterns are modulated by the
presence or absence of relevant features in the L1.







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