Information structural transfer in advanced Dutch EFL writing

A cross-linguistic longitudinal study

Bibliographic Data

ID19437435
AuthorsSanne van Vuuren (0000-0001-8491-3402, Radboud University Nijmegen, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume30
Pages173-187
Publication date2013-11-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLinguistics in the Netherlands (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0929-7332 • E-ISSN: 1569-9919
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/avt.30.13van
OpenAlexW2084606942
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited4

This article presents a case study on the role of L1 transfer of language-specific features of information structure in very advanced L2 learners. Cross-linguistic differences in the information status of clause-initial position in a V2 language like Dutch compared to an SVO language like English are hypothesized to result in overuse of clause-initial adverbials in the writing of advanced Dutch learners of English. This hypothesis was tested by evaluating advanced Dutch EFL learners’ use of clause-initial adverbials in a syntactically annotated longitudinal corpus of student writing, compared to a native reference corpus. Results indicate that Dutch EFL learners overuse clause-initial adverbials of place as well as addition adverbials that refer back to an antecedent in the directly preceding discourse. Although there is a clear development in the direction of native writing, transfer of information structural features of Dutch can still be observed even after three years of extended academic exposure

Information Structure · Linguistics · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Philosophy · Psychology · Second Language Acquisition and Learning

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access