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Acquisition of Japanese Null Arguments by Second Language Learners

Yusa, Mayuko
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524200688600588

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
This study focuses on the acquisition of Japanese null arguments by English and Chinese speakers. Japanese is a language that allows that arguments at the subject and object positions to be phonologically unpronounced or null. It is standardly observed that Japanese null arguments are ambiguous in that they allow both strict and sloppy readings. Three analyses have been proposed to explain the ambiguity in Japanese null arguments: the pro-analysis, the VP-ellipsis analysis and the argument ellipsis analysis. Recent research shows the argument ellipsis analysis can capture the nature of null arguments in Japanese, while the other two analyses fail to explain them. Much of the previous research on second language (L2) acquisition of null arguments examined learners whose first language (L1) or L2 is a Spanish or English type language, assuming null arguments are null pronouns (pro). Therefore, the L2 acquisition of Japanese null arguments has not been well examined in terms of argument ellipsis. Adopting the anti-agreement hypothesis, according to which argument ellipsis is allowed in languages without f-feature agreement, the current experiment investigated the acquisition of L2 Japanese null arguments by speakers of f-feature agreement languages (English speakers) and speakers of anti-agreement languages (Chinese speakers). Using truth-value judgment tasks, English speaking learners of Japanese (ELJ) and Chinese learners of Japanese (CLJ) were examined to determine whether they would accept sloppy interpretations with null subjects and objects, the existence of sloppy interpretations being one of the diagnoses for argument ellipsis. I assume that deleting a feature present in L1 is more difficult than adding a feature absent in L1 to L2 since the former requires negative evidence while the latter only requires positive evidence. The following summarizes the results of the experiment: (A) Regarding the acceptance of sloppy interpretations with null subjects, no significant differences were found between CLJ and the Japanese control, while ELJ’s acceptance was significantly lower than that of CLJ and the Japanese control. (B) Regarding the acceptance of sloppy interpretations with null objects, no significant differences were found among ELJ, CLJ and the Japanese control. The results in (A) suggest that ELJ did not acquire argument ellipsis but instead interpreted null subjects as pros because they could not discard f-feature in their L1. CLJ accepted sloppy interpretations with null subjects despite Chinese null subjects disallowing sloppy interpretations, suggesting that the absence of the f-feature agreement in L1 helped to allow sloppy interpretations in L2. I speculate that the definiteness of subjects responsible for the lack of sloppy interpretations in Chinese null subjects was not transferred to L2 Japanese. The results in (B) can be interpreted in terms of L1 transfer but in different ways. CLJ accepted sloppy interpretations in null objects since Chinese null objects also allow sloppy interpretations. On the other hand, ELJ accepted sloppy interpretations not because they acquired argument ellipsis but because they resorted to VP ellipsis, an ellipsis strategy often used in English.
Nakayama Mineharu (Advisor)
Xie Zhiguo (Committee Member)
101 p.
Language; Linguistics
argument ellipsis; null arguments; null subjects; null objects; pro-drop; pro; Japanese; second language acquisition; second language learners; foreign language learners; Chinese; English; sloppy interpretations; sloppy readings; ellipsis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Yusa, M. (2018). Acquisition of Japanese Null Arguments by Second Language Learners [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524200688600588

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Yusa, Mayuko. Acquisition of Japanese Null Arguments by Second Language Learners . 2018. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524200688600588.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Yusa, Mayuko. "Acquisition of Japanese Null Arguments by Second Language Learners ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524200688600588

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1524200688600588
422
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