On the Interpretation of Null Arguments in L2 Japanese by L1 German Speakers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.v1i2.11803Keywords:
null arguments; sloppy interpretation; feature transfer and feature learning model; L2 Japanese; L1 GermanAbstract
We report that (i) L1 German learners of Japanese as a foreign language allowed a sloppy interpretation of null arguments in the course of their L2 development, and that (ii) the sloppy interpretation between the L1 German group and the Japanese control group was, statistically, significantly different. Under Ishino’s (2012) Feature Transfer and Feature Learning model on second language acquisition (SLA) which we adopt, it is not immediately clear what type of null arguments the L1 German learners permit in their L2 Japanese. We argue that L1 German learners of L2 Japanese adopt German verbatim topic drop (Trutkowski, 2016) to make sloppy interpretation of null arguments available in their Japanese, an instance of L1 transfer. The current proposal is consistent with Yamada and Miyamoto’s (2017) finding that null arguments available in the L2 Japanese grammar of other European non-pro-drop language speakers do not permit sloppy interpretation, for verbatim topic drop is an operation specific to German.
References
Biberauer, Theresa (2010). Semi null-subject languages, expletives and expletive pro reconsidered. In Theresa Biberauer, Anders Holmberg, Ian Roberts, & Michelle Sheehan (eds.), Parametric variation: Null subjects in minimalist theory (pp.153-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chomsky, Noam (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.
Chomsky, Noam (1982). Some concepts and consequences of the theory of government and binding. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chomsky, Noam (2000). Minimalist inquires: The framework. In Roger Martin, David Michaels, & Juan Uriagereka (eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik (pp.89-155). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chomsky, Noam (2008). On phases. In Robert Freidin, Carlos P. Otero, & Maria Zubizarreta (eds.), Foundational issues in linguistic theory: Essays in honor of Jean-Roger Vergnaud (pp.133-166). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Flynn, Suzanne, Claire Foley & Inna Vinnitskaya (2004). The cumulative-enhancement model for language acquisition: Comparing adults’ and children’s patterns of development in first, second and third language acquisition. International Journal of Bilingualism, 1, 3-17.
Hermas, Abdelkader (2010). Language acquisition as computational resetting: Verb movement in L3 initial state. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7, 343-362.
Huang, C.-T. James (1984). On the distribution and reference of empty pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry, 15, 531-574.
Huang, C.-T. James and Barry C.-Y. Yang (2013). Topic drop and MCP. Paper presented at the 87th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Boston, MA., January 2013.
Ishino, Nao (2012). Feature transfer and feature learning in universal grammar: A comparative study of the syntactic mechanism for second language acquisition. Doctoral dissertation, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.
Kishimoto, Hideki (2008). On the variability of negative scope in Japanese. Journal of Linguistics, 44, 379-435.
Kuroda, S.-Y. (1988). Whether we agree or not: A comparative syntax of English and Japanese. Linguisticae Investigationes, 12, 1-47. Reprinted in Williams J. Poser (ed.), Papers from the 2nd international workshop on Japanese syntax (pp.103-144). Stanford: CSLI.
Miyamoto, Yoichi & Kazumi Yamada (2015). On null arguments and phi-features in SLA: A preliminary study. Nanzan Linguistics, 10, 1-20.
Miyamoto, Yoichi & Kazumi Yamada (2018). On the development of L3 Spanish in the grammar of L1 Japanese learners with L2 English. In Elena Babatsouli (ed.), Crosslinguistic research in monolingual and bilingual speech (pp.147-163). Chania: ISMBS.
Na Ranong, Sirirat & Yan-kit I. Leung (2009). Null objects in L1 Thai-L2 English-L3 Chinese: An empirical take on a theoretical problem. In Yan-kit I. Leung (ed.), Third language acquisition and universal grammar (pp.162-191). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Oku, Satoshi (1998). A theory of selection and reconstruction in the minimalist program. Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Roberts, Ian (2007). Diachronic syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Saito, Mamoru (2007). Notes on East Asian argument ellipsis. Language research, 43, 203-227.
Trutkowski, Ewa (2016). Topic drop and null subjects in German. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Williams, Edwin (1977). Discourse and logical form. Linguistic Inquiry, 8, 101-139.
Yamada, Kazumi and Yoichi Miyamoto (2017). On the interpretation of null arguments in L2 Japanese by European non-pro-drop and pro-drop language speakers. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 1, 73-89.
