| Description |
Studies have shown that English speakers use first noun strategy in NVN word order to interpret these sentences as SVO, and that they use second noun strategy in VNN and NNV word order to interpret sentences as VOS and OSV, respectively (Harrington, 1987). In contrast, Taman (1993) found that Arabic native speakers rely primarily on gender agreement, followed by case marking and animacy to assign agency. This study investigates whether and/or how second language (L2) learners of Arabic use word order and subject-verb agreement to assign an actor role in simple sentences. It assesses the role of first language (L1) (English) in processing Arabic sentences, and how L2 processing develops with increasing exposure to the language. The purpose of this study is (1) to determine whether L2 learners of Arabic enrolled in their first year show L1 transfer and use word order to assign a subject role, and (2) if so, to what extent additional exposure to Arabic will decrease reliance of word order and increase reliance on verb agreement. Language use patterns of three groups of L2 learners enrolled in first, second, and third year Arabic classes were examined. Participants read simple Arabic sentences and chose the subject of the sentence by button press (Bates et al., 1999, Experiment 3 & 4; Brandl, 2013; Kempe & MacWhinney, 1999). The dependent variable, frequency of choosing 1N, was calculated as a function of subject-verb variation for each group of students within the VNN and NVN word order. This study tentatively suggests that there might be an L1 transfer at the beginning stages of learning Arabic, and learners shift to use the L2 cues in processing L2 sentences with more exposure to the language. It also suggests some implications for L2 pedagogy. Whether it is because of L1 transfer or universal strategies, the Beginner group did not utilize the verb agreement to assign actor role regardless of the fact that they received explicit instructions about verb agreement in Arabic. |
