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The Influence of L1 on avoidance of phrasal verbs by Japanese-speaking English learners

Tomo

+Introduction / Research area

Area: SLA Avoidance in L2 production

What’s avoidance? Learners consciously avoid a grammatical

structure or word and substitute it with something else for the difficulty.

What’re the causes of avoidance? This study assumes and investigates that L1

influence is one of the causes of avoidance.

+Aim / Justification

Analyzing the influence of L1 on L2 learning will allow clearer description of L2 acquisition development processes.

L1-Chinese English learners’ phrasal verb avoidance rate is according to the learners’ proficiency level (Laio & Fukuya, 2004). If L1-Japanese English learners show a similar tendency, it supports the idea that absence of a structure in L1s slows down the acquisition of L2 that has the structure.

+References

Hulstijn, J., & Marchena, E. (1989). Avoidance: grammatical or semantic causes. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11(3), 241-255.

Kleinmann, H. H. (1978). The strategy of avoidance in adult second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie (Ed.), Second language acquisition research (pp. 157-174). New York: Academic Press.

Laufer, B., & Eliasson, S. (1993). What causes avoidance in L2 learning: L1-L2 difference, L1-L2 similarity, or L2 complexity?. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(1), 35-48.

Liao, Y., & Fukuya, Y. (2004). Avoidance of phrasal verbs: the case of Chinese learners of English. Language Learning, 54(2), 193-226.

Schachter, J. (1974). An error in error analysis. Language learning, 24(2), 205-214.

+Research questions

Do L1-Japanese learners avoid phrasal verbs to a similar extent as other English learners of L1 which don’t have phrasal verbs (mostly non-Germanic languages)?

Does avoidance rate diminish accordingly as L1-Japanese learners become more proficient at English?

+Subjects / Sources

20 Native English speakers

20 L1-Japanese English learners (intermediate level) TOEFL score: 500-599

20 L1-Japanese English learners (advanced level) TOEFL score: 600 or more

+Material / Instruments

Written multiple choice test Choose a phrasal verb or a one-word equivalent The texts are in colloquial & informal Two types of phrasal verbs: literal & figurative Japanese translation is given 10 minutes to complete 15 questions total

(Sample 1:a literal phrasal verb)“When the weather is nice I love to _____ early.”“Me, too. It’s good to enjoy the morning air.”( 起きる ) A. rise B. release C. get up D. look after

(Sample 2: a figurative phrasal verb)“Do you notice that Marvin likes to _____?”“Yes, but I don’t think that he has anything to be proud of.” ( 自

慢する ) A. lie B. boast C. show off D. break out

+Procedure1. All subjects take the test.

2. Data analysis on the native English speakers The proportion of right phrasal verbs

3. Data analysis on the two groups of English learners The proportion of right phrasal verbs to be

compared

4. Inferential statistical analysis with ANOVA The probability coefficient between subject

groups/ types of phrasal verbs will be computed.

+Type of data / data analysis

Type of data: Quantitative

Data: multiple choice key selection by participants

Data analysis: Proportion of multiple key selection by each

group of subjects will be compared. Inferential statistical analysis will be conducted

in order to obtain generalizability of the results.

+Limitations

Avoidance or ignorance? Avoidance presumes being able to use it. If subjects don’t know about the phrasal verbs,

the case can’t be treated as avoidance.

Avoidance is the not the only factor that affects the results.

The ways the subjects learned: it seems likely that learners started learning English with formal/written registers, and not experienced with informal/colloquial as much.

+Expected findings

Avoidance rate of phrasal verbs by L1-Japanese English learners is similar to one by L1- Chinese speakers.

Liao & Fukuya’s (2004) study is about L1-Chinese.

Avoidance rate is higher in the intermediate level group than the advanced level group. If so, it supports the idea that avoidance of

phrasal verbs can be an indicator of the learners’ acquisition development.