Influences of Typological Parameters on L2 Learners’ Judgments of Null Pronouns in English*

Abstract

This study examines the responses of 60 Spanish, Chinese, and German L2 learners to English sentences with empty pronominal categories (ECs). Empty pronouns are not only acceptable in finite clauses of Spanish and Chinese but are pragmatically more natural (Rizzi, 1982; Huang, 1984, 1985). However, the phenomena are not sanctioned in standard German, which is similar to the condition for English. These facts were taken to indicate that the parametric apparatus governing pronoun conduct in the L1 of the Spanish and Chinese L2 learners would be less like that of German learners to a significant degree. It was also expected that if all three groups were asked to judge and edit English sentences with null pronouns, the Spanish and Chinese Ss would make significantly more errors than would the German Ss because of parametric adjustments than the former two groups would need to make. But this outcome was not fully supported by the data as it was only the Spanish Ss and not the Chinese Ss whose mean errors were significantly higher than those of the German group. Evidence indicated that typological parameters linked to pragmatic versus syntactic motivations of L1 had to be considered in accounting for the results.