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The use of syntactic features in formulating sentences in English as a second language by native speakers of Spanish*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2016

HYE K. PAE ,
DAPHNE GREENBERG ,
NICOLE TAYLOR ,
JACQUELINE LAURES-GORE  and
LIDIA YVETTE QUINONES
HYE K. PAE*
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati
DAPHNE GREENBERG
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
NICOLE TAYLOR
Affiliation:
Spelman College
JACQUELINE LAURES-GORE
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
LIDIA YVETTE QUINONES
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
*
†Address for correspondence: Hye K. Pae, PhD, School of Education, PO Box 210022, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 4221-0022. tel: 513-556-7112; fax: 513-556-1001; e-mail: hye.pae@uc.edu
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Abstract

This study examined how native speakers of Spanish formulated sentences in English as a second language (L2) when randomly ordered words were orally presented. Participants included 206 adult literacy students (70 native Spanish speakers and 136 native English speakers) whose word reading equivalency was at third- through fifth-grade levels. The Word Ordering subtest of the Test of Language Development-3 was administered. Although they showed a similar pattern of performance in the sentence type (i.e., declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence), the two groups showed a different pattern in the misuse of syntactic features. Pertaining to grammatical features, verbs were the most difficult item for the native speakers of Spanish. The findings of this study were explained through the intricate nature of English verbs as well as unique lexicalization patterns resulting from the typological difference between Spanish and English.

Keywords

sentence formulationnative speakers of Spanishsyntactic featuresverbssecond language
Type
Research Article
Information
Language and Cognition , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 501 - 524
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Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2016 

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Footnotes

*

This study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Literacy, and the US Department of Education – grant # R01 HD43801. We appreciate the anonymous reviewers’ constructive comments.

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