How adult English learners of French express caused motion: A comparison with English and French natives

Abstract

This study examines the impact of typological properties (satellite - vs. verb-framed languages) on the expression of caused motion during adult second language acquisition. Productions were elicited by means of animated cartoons from 24 English learners of French (12 low-intermediate, 12 advanced) as compared to 24 native speakers (12 English, 12 French). The responses of native speakers differed with respect to semantic density (English>French) and to the systematic (English) vs. variable (French) devices used. As for learners, their utterance density increased with proficiency level as they acquired complex structures. Source/target language properties influenced this process, as shown by their increasing attempt to produce target-like structures that nonetheless remained source-like at both proficiency levels. These typological constraints suggest that learners do not construct an entirely independent linguistic system during second language acquisition and that L2 mastery may require some re-conceptualization of spatial information. The discussion indicates research directions that might explore the implications of these results for language teaching.