The Dative Alternation in the Interlanguage of German Learners of English

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Phenomenon of inquiry: the English dative alternation

2.1 Basic terms and terminology

2.2 State of research

2.2.1 Semantic approaches to the dative alternation

2.2.2 Informational approaches to the dative alternation

2.2.3 Predicting the dative alternation

2.2.4 Lexical biases

3 The present study

4 Method

4.1 Material design

4.1.1 Test sets

4.2 Participants

4.2.2 American participants (group L1)

4.2.1 German participants (group L2)

4.3 Procedure

4.4 Score

5 Results

6 Discussion

7 Conclusion

Research Objectives and Themes

This study aims to investigate the grammatical phenomenon of the dative alternation in English, specifically examining how it is reflected in the interlanguages of German learners of English. A primary goal is to determine whether these learners exhibit lexical biases in their choice of dative syntax—the preference for either the double object dative (DOD) or the prepositional object dative (POD)—similar to those observed in native speakers of English.

• The grammatical mechanisms of the English dative alternation (DA).
• Theoretical approaches, including semantic and informational variables.
• Lexical biases associated with specific dative verbs (give, sell, throw).
• Language transfer effects in second language acquisition for German speakers.

Excerpt from the Book

Summary of Chapters

1 Introduction: Introduces the English dative alternation, defining the double object and prepositional object structures and outlining the study's focus on lexical biases and learner interlanguage.

2 Phenomenon of inquiry: the English dative alternation: Provides a comprehensive literature review of semantic and informational approaches, as well as the phenomenon of lexical bias in native speaker performance.

3 The present study: Details the research objectives, the hypothesis concerning lexical bias, and the rationale for comparing American and German speakers.

4 Method: Explains the design of the decision-task questionnaire, the selection of test items including the give idiom and verbs such as give, sell, and throw, and the participant demographics.

5 Results: Presents the quantitative findings from both the American (L1) and German (L2) groups, illustrating the skew toward POD usage and the hierarchical bias observed.

6 Discussion: Interprets the findings regarding lexical bias, refuting certain hypotheses about L1 transfer and confirming the sensitivity of learners to lexical cues.

7 Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, noting that lexical biases are acquired by learners alongside the dative alternation and proposing directions for future research.

Keywords

Dative alternation, double object dative, prepositional object dative, lexical bias, second language acquisition, language transfer, semantic approaches, informational approaches, principle of end-weight, English syntax, interlanguage, German learners, verb semantics, constituent ordering, empirical linguistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core subject of this research?

The research focuses on the "dative alternation" in English, which refers to the speakers' ability to express the same "giving" event using either a double object construction or a prepositional object construction.

What are the primary themes investigated?

The study examines the influence of verb semantics (lexical bias), informational structure, and syntactic constraints on the choice between the two dative variants, comparing native English speakers with German learners.

What is the primary research question?

The study seeks to answer whether German learners of English exhibit the same lexical biases in their dative syntax choices as native speakers, and if their native language influences their preference for a specific construction.

Which scientific methods were employed?

The researcher conducted a decision-task questionnaire study with 16 native American English speakers and 33 German learners, utilizing statistical analysis (including chi-square tests) to evaluate the participants' preferences.

What does the main body of the work cover?

It provides a theoretical framework regarding semantic and informational factors (like end-weight and discourse accessibility) and presents empirical data from two experiments analyzing these variables across different dative verbs.

Which keywords best characterize this work?

Key terms include dative alternation, lexical bias, second language acquisition, syntactic choice, and language transfer.

Did the results confirm the hypothesis about German learners?

No, the hypothesis that German learners would prefer the double object structure due to transfer from German was falsified; instead, these learners showed a strong preference for the prepositional object structure.

What is "lexical bias" in the context of this study?

Lexical bias refers to the finding that certain verbs inherently favor one dative construction over the other, regardless of other variable settings, such as give preferring the double object construction and throw preferring the prepositional variant.

How does the "principle of end-weight" influence dative choices?

The principle of end-weight describes the tendency to place longer, more complex constituents at the end of a sentence, which significantly affects whether speakers choose a DOD or POD structure to ensure balanced information flow.