The Acquisition of English Reflexive Pronouns by Adult Korean Speakers

The purpose of this project is to explore the acquisition of English reflexive pronouns by eight Korean adult native speakers of Korean. The Binding Theory by Chomsky (1981) and the Chain Condition by Reinhart and Reuland (1993) are used to explain the judgements of the Korean speakers.

The results demonstrate that Korean students exhibit higher error rate in finite sentences than nonfinite sentences for SSC and TSC because it is easier for the reflexive to 'escape' from a nonfinite than a finite clause. It is hard to find an antecedent which is far from its reflexive pronoun in P. It is also difficult to figure out different usages for a reflexive pronoun as IOs. C-command and possessi are not problematic. When overgeneralization occurs, it is not caused by L1 Korean but interlanguage.

The findings in this study contribute to better teaching methods of English reflexive pronouns for Korean ESL and EFL learners.

Evaluation of Vocabulary Acquisition Methods: Mnemonic Keyword Method & Contextualized Method

This Applied project is a library research focusing on the issue of L2 vocabulary acquisition and instructions. For a long time, it is assumed that explicit instructions of vocabulary definitions and acquisition techniques are not necessary, since the learners shall 'pick up' words naturally through extensive readings and communications. With this assumption, vocabulary instructions have been neglected, and comparatively less research is conducted regarding vocabulary acquisition. The aim of this project is to propose a more open and diverse thinking concerning the issue of vocabulary acquisition by discussions of the complexity of vocabulary knowledge, and comparisons of two vocabulary acquisition methods--the contextualized method and the mnemonic keyword method.

The first chapter of this project provides explanations for the neglect of vocabulary instructions, and justifications for the needs and the ole of the vocabulary instruction. The second chapter is devoted to discuss the complexity of word knowledge, while chapter three introduces the classifications of vocabulary acquisition methods. Then, evaluations of the contextualized method (inferring word meanings from context) and the keyword method are provided in chapter four and chapter five. The characteristics, ranges of applicability, the rationale or theoretical backgrounds, as well as the effectiveness and limitations of the methods are the focus of the evaluations. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are enclosed in the last chapter of this project to serve as a conclusion.

The AECP's Reading Comprehension Test

The American English and Cultural Program (AECP) at Arizona State University provides English language training for students who are attempting to pass the TOEFL examination or who want to improve their English skills for business or personal reasons. The AECP is currently in the process of developing testing instruments for all of its language classes. The purpose of this project was to develop a reading comprehension test for the AECP's Basic 2 level reading class. The test was based on the theoretical framework of communicative competence.

A preliminary test for the AECP was developed but could not be used due to low mean scores obtained by the students. For this project, the preliminary test was revised and the data analyzed. The mean score for the test reached the criterial level of the AECP. Reliability and validity was also attained. The items of this test, however, need revised to obtain acceptable item difficulty and item discrimination indexes.

Effects of Whole Language on EFL Students' Motivation

This project reviews the history, definitions and descriptions, and current trends of Whole Language, an alternative language teaching philosophy. Moreover, the concept of motivation is reviewed and defined. The purpose of the project is to investigate whether the implementation of Whole Language affects students' motivation in an English as a foreign language university setting. A description, subjects, method of data collection, results, implications, and limitations are presented.

Enhancing EFL Writing Instruction with Portfolio Assessment

This applied project investigates the potential usefulness of portfolio assessment of advanced learners' writing in an ELT institute in Brazil. Students and teachers answered questionnaires designed to examine how writing is currently taught and assessed. The results of the survey showed that the elements that are most lacking in the writing instruction are related to the development of students' ability to revise their writings and reflect on their writing processes, skills, and strategies. These findings suggest that portfolio assessment might be a useful tool because most of its essential characteristics are exactly what the current writing program lacks.

Reflexives in Chinese and English

Many English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) learners have problems with acquiring English reflexive pronouns, and the L1 transfer has been hypothesized as one of the factors which influences L2 acquisition of reflexive pronoun. This paper aims to explore how advanced adult Chinese learners of English interpret varying sentences with anaphors and pronominals in an experimental setting and focuses on the following question: in what way do Chinese learners of English acquire English reflexive pronouns with the influence of Chinese reflexive rules? The study first reviews background of both English and Chinese reflexive pronouns on the literature: Chomsky's Binding Theory and the local nature of the long-distance reflexive in Chinese, both of which exhibit differences and similarities of English and Chinese reflexive pronouns on the syntactic levels and rules. A review of previous research about acquisition of anaphors by ESL/EFL learners shows that second language learners of English 's judgements of reflexive pronouns differ from those of native-speakers. Besides, a review of Wexler and Manzini's Subset Principle reveals that parameter-setting model of L1 acquisition can be extended to L2 acquisition of reflexive pronouns. The experiment conducted to examine if Chinese ESL/EFL learners will have learned correct English reflexive pronouns shows that Chinese speakers learning L2 English initially apply the L1 parameter setting and transfer the L1 reflexive anaphor type to the interlanguage grammar and a consistent order of difficulty is found for the eight sentence types of this interpretation test. It is concluded that Chinese learners of English might consider the grammar of their L1 as they acquire L2's reflexive binding; learners have access to Universal Grammar in second language acquisition; and the Subset Principle can be related to some extent to the acquisition of English anaphors. Suggestions are offered for adapting the teaching method for the English classroom and future research.

The Critical Period Hypothesis and Explicit Grammar Teaching in the Adult Second Language Classroom

Due to a critical period in the acquisition of syntax, most adult second language (L2) learners experience problems in reaching native-like proficiency. Grammar, together with vocabulary, is the foundation of all language skills. Studies have shown that conscious processing of syntactic structures, involving metalinguistic knowledge and output, leads to better retention. In accord with the current Focus on Form movement, this project suggests that grammar should be an integral part of adult L2 instruction, even within a communicative syllabus, and offers a variety of instructional methods, ranging from implicit to explicit, and several testing methods that should promote the acquisition of syntactic structures.

Functional Categories in Mandarin

Current generative theory distinguishes two types of syntactic elements: lexical categories and functional categories, and it assumes that the latter exist in all natural languages and play an important role in determining linguistic variation. Since Mandarin is a typical analytic language, which lacks inflection, this study aims to examine whether the theoretical assumptions from generative grammar (GG) are applicable to Mandarin. By turning to Chomsky's X-bar theory, Kayne's rigid X-bar scheme, Pollock's split IP proposal, Abney's DP (determiner phrase) analysis, etc., this paper examines three main domains of functional projections in Mandarin, namely, CP(complementizer phrase),IP(inflectional phrase) and DP, and finds that these functional projections exist in this language, but the presence of a certain functional projection doesn't need to be licensed by the presence of the head of the functional projection only. In addition, the analysis of the split IP projections in Mandarin reveals the incompleteness of Pollock's split IP proposal, and the close examination of the internal structure of the mandarin DP demonstrates the inadequacy of Abney's DP structure. These findings on the one hand contribute to universal grammar by verifying the validity of the general theoretical assumptions of GG, and on the other hand help define GG's theoretical principles by revealing the specific linguistic variation in Mandarin.

English as a Foreign Language Curriculum Development for Children in Taiwan

English education in Taiwan is currently reassessing both its teaching methods and curriculum for primary and secondary school students. Children now begin to learn English in the elementary schools, and each elementary school can develop its own EFL curriculum based on the guidelines offered by the Taiwanese Department of Education. This project examines the literature on communicative competence and curriculum planning. It proposes a sample EFL curriculum for fourth graders in Taiwan, based on a published textbook series on which the author collaborated. The ultimate purpose of this project is to help curriculum planners and teachers in Taiwan developing their own curricula based on communicative language teaching methods.

Syntactic Complexity of ESL Student Writing in Computer-Assisted and Traditional Classrooms

This study was designed to investigate the syntactic complexity of ESL student writing in computer-assisted and traditional classrooms. Recent years have witnessed increasing popularity of computer-assisted language instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. Although extensive research has been conducted to determine psychological and motivational benefits, few studies have investigated the effects of computer-assisted instruction on the quality of writing of ESL students (Ghaleb, 1993; Sullivan and Pratt, 1996; Brain, 1997). Among surface characteristics that measure writing quality, syntactic complexity attains a high position. Studies by Ransdell and Levy (1994) and Ferris (1994) show correlations between quality of writing and syntactic complexity of student writing. The data in this study are analyzed on three measures of syntactic complexity: sentence length, information block value, and embedding depth. The findings revealed that students in the traditional class wrote longer and more complex sentences in their essays than did the students in the computer-assisted class. However, because of the limitations of the study, the findings regarding effects of different instructional modes on syntactic complexity of ESL student writing would have to be supported by further research.