Dutch-Indonesian interlanguage Psycholinguistic study on syntax

Sugeng Riyanto

Abstract


This article focuses on the psycholinguistic study of the syntactic aspects of Dutch-Indonesian interlanguage. The study is based on the interlanguage syntax observed in an oral test given to thirty Indonesian learners of Dutch as a second language, whose purpose is to test the processability theory of Pienemann (2005a, b, c, 2007). The results of the study provide evidence for the validity of Pienemann’s theory. Learners who have acquired sentences with the highest level of processing will also already have acquired sentences with a lower level of processing. The results from learners with a high level of Dutch proficiency verify the processability theory with more certainty than the results of learners with a lower proficiency. Learners tend to rely on meaning if they are not confident of their grammatical proficiency. Interlanguage is the result of the immediate need to encode in the mind concepts and ideas into the form of linguistic items, within a fraction of a millisecond, whilst the supporting means are limited, and whilst learners already have acquired a first language and possibly another language as well.

Keywords


Interlanguage, processability theory, exchange of grammatical information, Dutch/Indonesian.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alhawary, M.T. 2009. “Speech processing prerequisites or L1 transfer? Evidence from English and French L2 learners of Arabic”, Foreign Language Annals 42(2): 367-391.

Ellis, R. and G. Barkhuizen. 2005. Analysing learner language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Håkanson, G. 2005. “Similarities and differences in L1 and L2 development”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 179-197. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Jordan, G. 2004. Theory construction in second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Kawaguchi, S. 2005. “Argument structure and syntactic development in Japanese as a second language”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 253-298. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Levelt, W.J.M. 1989. Speaking: from intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Mansouri, F. 2005. “Agreement morphology in Arabic as a second language,” in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 117-153. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

O’Grady, W., J. Archibald, M. Aronoff, and J. Rees Miller. 2005. Contemporary linguistics; An introduction. New York: Bedfort/St. Martins.

Pienemann, M. 1998a. Language processing and second language development; Processability Theory. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Pienemann, M. 1998b. “Developmental dynamics in L1 and L2 acquisition; Processability Theory and generative entrenchment”, Bilingualism; Language and Cognition 1(1): 1-20.

Pienemann, M. 2005a (ed.). Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Pienemann, M. 2005b. “An introduction to Processability Theory”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 1-60. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Pienemann, M. 2005c. “Discussing PT”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 61-83. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Pienemann, M. 2006. “Language processing capacity”, in: C.J. Doughty and M.H. Long (eds), The handbook of second language acquisition, pp. 679-714. Maden, MA: Blackwell.

Pienemann, M. 2007. “Processability theory”, in: B. VanPatten and J. Williams (eds), Theories in second language acquisition; An introduction, pp. 137-154. London/Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Pienemann, M., B. Di Biase, and S. Kawaguchi. 2005. “Processability, typological distance and L1 transfer”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 85-116. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Richards, J.C. and R. Schmidt. 2002. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Harlow, London: Pearson Education Limited.

Riyanto, S. 1990. “Syntactische en semantische middelen bij de interpretatie van Nederlandse zinnen”. MA thesis Universiteit Leiden.

Riyanto, S. 2010. “Teori keterprosesan bahasa”. Paper, Seminar Nasional Hasil Sandwich Dikti 2009, Jakarta, 12 April.

Tarone, E. 2000. “Still wrestling with ‘context’ in interlanguage theory”, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 20: 182-198.

Tarone, E. 2006. “Interlanguage”, in: K. Brown (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics, pp. 747-752. Oxford: Elsevier.

VanPatten, B. and J. Williams (eds). 2007. Theories in second language acquisition; An introduction. New York/London: Routledge.

Wray, A. and A. Bloomer. 2006. Projects in linguistics; A practical guide to researching language. New York/London: Hodder Arnold.

Zhang, Y. 2005. “Processing and formal instruction in the L2 acquisition of five Chinese grammatical morphemes”, in: M. Pienemann (ed.), Cross-linguistic aspects of Processability Theory, pp. 155-177. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17510/wjhi.v14i1.54

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Free counters!   https://lh3.ggpht.com/x7QqTfmSv9q5a91R09N98xaZcp2aoVSehSpRIc5ZfwYo28BQ-EsKqXI3pjcRZydxriU=w124 https://abs.twimg.com/icons/apple-touch-icon-192x192.png

View My Stats