Abstract Definite and demonstrative determiners in English share the same central semantics of uniqueness (e.g., Hawkins, 1991 ; Ionin, Baek, Kim, Ko, & Wexler, 2012 ; Wolter, 2006 ), but the computation of the semantics is constrained by different discourse conditions and determined by pragmatic knowledge, which pertains to the interface between semantics and pragmatics. This paper investigates whether L2 learners may have persistent difficulty in acquiring properties involving the semantics-pragmatics interface, by exploring the acquisition of L2 English definite and demonstrative determiners by advanced and near-native L1 Chinese learners of English. It also examines whether acquisition results are influenced by the learners’ L1 Chinese, which lacks an article system but allows demonstrative determiners. The results from a forced-choice written task show that advanced learners were unable to distinguish between the two determiners in different discourse conditions; near-native-level L1 Chinese learners displayed a native-like preference for the definite determiner, but not for the demonstrative determiner. It is argued that convergence at the semantics-pragmatics interface is not impossible for L2 learners, but (un)acquirability may be constrained by asymmetries in the L1–L2 realizations of semantics-pragmatics mappings. The findings raise interesting questions for future research into factors that can influence the acquisition of external interfaces.

中文翻译：

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第一语言对语义-语用界面的影响

摘要 英语中的限定限定词和指示限定词具有相同的唯一性中心语义（例如，Hawkins, 1991 ; Ionin, Baek, Kim, Ko, & Wexler, 2012 ; Wolter, 2006 ），但语义的计算受到不同语篇的限制条件并由语用知识决定，语用知识属于语义和语用学之间的接口。本文通过探讨高级和接近母语的英语一语汉语学习者对二语英语定式和指示性限定词的习得情况，探讨二语学习者是否可能在获得语义-语用接口属性方面存在持续困难。它还考察了习得结果是否受到学习者的L1汉语的影响，该汉语缺乏冠词系统但允许指示性限定词。一项强制选择书面任务的结果表明，高级学习者无法区分不同语篇条件下的两个决定因素；接近母语水平的 L1 汉语学习者对确定性限定词表现出类似母语的偏好，但对指示性限定词则没有。有人认为，语义-语用学接口的收敛对于 L2 学习者来说并非不可能，但（不可）可获取性可能会受到语义-语用映射的 L1-L2 实现中的不对称性的限制。这些发现为未来研究可能影响外部接口获取的因素提出了有趣的问题。接近母语水平的 L1 汉语学习者对确定性限定词表现出类似母语的偏好，但对指示性限定词则没有。有人认为，语义-语用学接口的收敛对于 L2 学习者来说并非不可能，但（不可）可获取性可能会受到语义-语用映射的 L1-L2 实现中的不对称性的限制。这些发现为未来研究可能影响外部接口获取的因素提出了有趣的问题。接近母语水平的 L1 汉语学习者对确定性限定词表现出类似母语的偏好，但对指示性限定词则没有。有人认为，语义-语用学接口的收敛对于 L2 学习者来说并非不可能，但（不可）可获取性可能会受到语义-语用映射的 L1-L2 实现中的不对称性的限制。这些发现为未来研究可能影响外部接口获取的因素提出了有趣的问题。