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THE ACQUISITION OF COMPLEX ENGLISH STRUCTURES BY ADULT LEARNERS 1
Author(s) -
d'Anglejan Alison,
Tucker G. Richard
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1975.tb00247.x
Subject(s) - linguistics , psychology , second language acquisition , language acquisition , first language , set (abstract data type) , language transfer , developmental linguistics , comprehension approach , computer science , language education , mathematics education , philosophy , programming language
This study was designed to investigate the acquisition of a set of complex English structures by adult learners of English at two different levels of proficiency. The results indicated a developmental pattern similar to that reported by Chomsky for child native speakers. Interesting language learning strategies were revealed. In interpreting ambiguous sentences, beginners tended to rely on semantic rather than on syntactic information. All subjects appeared to deal directly with the linguistic data of the target language. No evidence was found that they attempted to translate or to map native language structures onto those of the target language. In no instance did we find evidence of language learning strategies different from those reported in the literature for child native speakers.