ABSTRACT

The Bottleneck Hypothesis argues that properties of inflectional morphology explain why second-language learners may face persistent difficulties in articulating meaning in target-language forms. In particular, the acquisition task proves even harder when first and second languages differ in the way they organize the mapping of functional features onto inflectional morphemes. Against this backdrop, the present study focuses on the interplay between case morphology and acquisition of syntax-discourse interface phenomena in the second language German of French native speakers. Whereas the Bottleneck Hypothesis predicts that discourse-driven syntactic alternations come for free when case morphology is in place, a concurrent prediction is made by the Interface Hypothesis, which suggests that the syntax-discourse interface is vulnerable per se, irrespective of L1-L2 differences at the interface between morphology and syntax. We tested 45 L2 learners in (i) a semicontrolled production task in context (element rearrangement task) targeting argument reordering (object fronting) as a function of the information status of discourse referents; (ii) a fill-in-the-blanks task involving the use of case endings; and (iii) a general proficiency test. Contra the Interface Hypothesis, results showed that argument reordering was affected by discourse properties of referents. Turning to the Bottleneck Hypothesis, learners’ command of case was identified as a reliable predictor of convergence in discourse-to-syntax mappings, which confirms the key role of inflectional morphology in the acquisition of other grammar areas, including interfaces between grammar and grammar-external domains such as discourse.

摘要

瓶颈假说认为，屈折形态学的特性解释了为什么第二语言学习者在用目标语言形式表达意义时可能会面临持续的困难。特别是，当第一语言和第二语言在组织功能特征到屈折语素的映射方式上不同时，习得任务变得更加困难。在此背景下，本研究侧重于案例形态与法语母语德语第二语言德语中句法-话语界面现象的习得之间的相互作用。瓶颈假设预测，当案例形态到位时，话语驱动的句法交替会免费出现，而接口假设做出了同时预测，这表明句法 - 话语接口本身是脆弱的，不考虑形态学和句法界面上的 L1-L2 差异。我们在 (i) 上下文中的半控制生产任务（元素重排任务）中测试了 45 名 L2 学习者，目标是将参数重新排序（对象前置）作为话语所指信息状态的函数；(ii) 涉及使用案例结尾的填空任务；(iii) 一般能力测试。与界面假设相反，结果表明，论据重新排序受到所指对象的话语属性的影响。转向瓶颈假设，学习者对案例的掌握被认为是语篇到句法映射收敛的可靠预测指标，这证实了屈折形态在其他语法领域的习得中的关键作用，