Acquisition Of Prepositions Research Articles

The Acquisition of the English Spatial Prepositions: in, on, and at by Saudi EFL Students

This study investigates the acquisition of the three English spatial prepositions: ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘at’ by 100 Saudi EFL students within the framework of the Markedness Theory. From the markedness point of view, marked/infrequent structures are more difficult in acquisition compared to their corresponding unmarked/frequent structures. English and Arabic differ in the way they express the semantic relations of these prepositions. This is assumed to pose difficulties in learning for EFL students where learners compare the English prepositional system to that of Arabic and resort to literal translation; thus, L1 transfer takes place. The study aims to provide insight into the challenges that Arab EFL learners encounter when learning English and to fill a gap in the literature of second language acquisition regarding the acquisition of prepositions by Arab EFL learners when semantic asymmetries are attested. Results show that the unmarked preposition ‘in’ is learned easily because its Arabic equivalent ‘fi’ covers more functions in the native language. As for the prepositions ‘on’ and ‘at’, results show that participants are struggling to learn them because only a few meanings correspond between ‘on’ and its Arabic equivalent ‘ʕala’, and that Arabic lacks an equivalent for ‘at’.

The timing of production

This paper investigates the acquisition of prepositions in Italian looking at children’s early spontaneous speech. With a longitudinal study on the production of seven Italian-speaking children aged 1;7 to 3;4, we sought to determine the timing in which different prepositional items emerged in children’s speech. Following much acquisition research, the order of emergence is assumed to reveal how syntax develops during acquisition (Rizzi, 1993/1994; Pérez-Leroux & al., 2012; Friedmann, Belletti, & Rizzi, 2020). Our analysis revealed that children produced different prepositional items at different stages. Adverbial prepositions, i.e., prepositions lacking a lexicalized complement, were produced in an order following the semantic feature hierarchy proposed in Clark (1972). The development of prepositional items with a lexicalized complement was consistent with the geometry of the syntactic tree proposed in the cartographic literature (Cinque, 2010). Interestingly, our results are in line with previous findings on French and Spanish (Morgenstern & Sekali, 2009; Stewart 2015) but diverge from those reported for English (Littlefield, 2009). In this respect, the development of prepositions patterns alike with the acquisition of other functional morphemes that differentiates morphologically rich languages from those with a poorer functional inventory.

언어 간 어휘-개념적 차이가 한국인 영어학습자의 전치사 습득에 미치는 영향

The present study aims to explore the effect of cross-linguistic differences in lexico-semantic structure on the acquisition of prepositions by Korean learners of English. Experimental sentences were constructed using English preposition pairs whose members are lexically distinct but not differentiated in Korean (such as during and for). The sentences were presented in two conditions, which varied in terms of whether they contained a correct or incorrect member of a preposition pair. A total of sixty-five adult Korean EFL learners participated in the experiment. They were presented the sentences in a self-paced reading task and then judged their acceptability. A series of t-test were conducted to see if the learners were sensitive to the proper contexts of the prepositions. The results revealed that Korean learners have great difficulty distinguishing the separate contexts for these prepositions. However, the learners were found to gradually differentiate the contexts as their proficiency improved. Further analysis across levels suggested that some preposition pairs are more difficult to distinguish than others. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Acquisition of Prepositions by ESL Learners through Dictation Tasks

The study examines the acquisition of English prepositions by Sinhala speaking learners of English with respect to four fine-grained categories of prepositions found by Littlefield (2006) using first language acquisition of English speaking children. The acquisition order of these four categories found by Littlefield: adverbial prepositions [+Lexical, -Functional], particles [-Lexical, -Functional], semi-lexical prepositions [+Lexical, +Functional], and functional prepositions [- Lexical, +Functional], showed an advantage of [-Functional] features over the [+ Functional] features. One of the aims of the study was to find out whether this ranking was good for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in tasks that tap comprehension knowledge (dictation task). The second aim was to see whether at initial stages of learning, there was an advantage of either [+Lexical] features or [-Functional] features, which disappeared at later stages of learning. 316 Sinhala speaking learners of English studying in Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 answered a dictation task with 40 sentences, 10 each with adverbial prepositions, semi-lexical prepositions, particles and functional prepositions. Sentence length and structure was controlled and sentences differed only in the category of preposition used in them. The main findings of this task were as follows: (1) ESL learners imitated the four categories of prepositions differently in the dictation task. (2) [+Lexial] prepositions were better imitated than [-Lexical] prepositions initially, and this ‘lexical’ advantage disappeared in Grade 10 with all categories being used with comparable accuracy. These findings are recommended to be used in the ESL classroom to facilitate teaching prepositions.

Content and contingencies: Considerations regarding curriculum development for young children with autism.

Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism is a non-linear, multi-component endeavor concerned with complex instructional contingencies and curriculum content. It might be useful to think of EIBI in terms of three general elements: curriculum protocol, analysis, and implementation and program structuring. These elements are interdependent and when discussing clinical field of EIBI all three elements must be considered. Curriculum content and instructional contingencies interact in complex ways as numerous skill domains are addressed in a systematic and incremental manner. In directing this process of cumulative hierarchical learning, a strong focus on maintaining intrinsic program coherence is imperative. The present paper discusses some important aspects of intricacies of EIBI. ********** From a behavior analytic perspective autism is not viewed as a central deficit but rather condition is conceptualized as a constellation of many individual deficits to be treated separately (Lovaas & Smith, 1989). This pragmatic stance is shaped by extensive research that shows that improvement in one domain does not necessarily facilitate improvement in another. For instance, acquisition of prepositions does not necessarily facilitate acquisition of pronouns (Lovaas & Smith, 1989). No aspect of skill development can be taken for granted and intervention must proceed in incremental steps addressing multiple skill domains simultaneously. Continuous time analysis of typically developing children shows that language development proceeds in incremental steps with an abundance of structured and fine-tuned environmental support. Acquisition of any complex skill requires many levels of accomplishment and higher skill levels can be acquired effectively only after lower levels have been mastered (Moerk, 1992). As such, learning is cumulative and hierarchical (Staats, 1981, 1994). These facts are amplified dramatically with respect to young children with autism. Children with autism require considerable time, numerous levels of accomplishment, incremental steps and highly attuned environmental support (i.e., contingency arrangements) in order to acquire even basic skills. This poses significant conceptual and analytical challenges when designing effective intervention. Staats (1994) has pointed out that applied behaviorists, acquainted only with principles of reinforcement, are limited in their ability to analyze many problems of human behavior, thus shortchanging value of behavioral approach (p. 105). The clinical field of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) transcends basic principles of behavior analysis (i.e., basic conceptual calculus and learning principles) and must strive to establish concepts and principles that are effective in dealing with tremendous behavioral complexity and development. Whereas learning is concerned with formation of new response patterns and response functions, development is concerned with the emergence of new kinds of behavioral organization as outcome of transformational sequences from previous conditions (Ribes, 1996, p. 42). A NON-LINEAR ENDEAVOR The skill building process is not a linear endeavor in which individual repertoires comprise isolated and unrelated units independently controlled by environmental variables. Rather, skill building is encompassed by a complex and dynamic system in which behavioral units and repertoires are related and interdependent. Complex behavior is not a matter of straight that can be adequately accounted for in terms of linear logic. Rather, there are snags and snarls and multiple lines of progression characterized by confluence, overlapping and convergence. Furthermore, there are complex hierarchies (e.g., category structure) and dynamic networks to consider. According to concept of cumulative and hierarchical learning, one repertoire provides basis for learning another repertoire, etc. …

Acquisition of Locative Prepositions in Russian

This study investigated the ability of children between ages 3;0 and 7;2 to understand and to produce locative prepositions in functionally autonomous form in Russian. Eighty-eight children were required to manipulate two objects in nonverbal and verbal situations. Six types of locative relationships (“in,” “on,” “under,” “above,” “in front of,” and “behind”) were studied in constructions such as “the sphere is in the cube.” Results showed that the children found difficulties in the functional use of prepositions. These findings suggest that the acquisition of locative prepositions in childhood is not complete at the time of their appearance in speech. This is a complex process which is not completed until approximately age 7. The acquisition of the prepositional system is equivalent to the acquisition of the prepositions' semantic system.

Acquisition of prepositions in language-delayed preschoolers: is intervention effective?

ABSTRACTMany language‐delayed children experience difficulty with prepositions, but few instructional guidelines exist. A group of 25 language‐delayed preschoolers made significant gains on a test measuring comprehension of 20 prepositions following five months of systematic instruction by classroom teachers in a preschool setting. They continued to improve on a second post‐test after four additional months of instruction. The instructional method is discussed in detail, and an analysis of the order of difficulty of the prepositions is presented.

Aspects of late language acquisition: school children's use and comprehension of prepositions

The study of late language development in normal children promises to reveal much about the residual obstacles to language mastery, and is therefore a central issue for developmental psycholinguists. Findings of a series of studies of schoolchildren's use and comprehension of common prepositions are reported. Particular attention is paid to the acquisition of between, but a variety of developments in the comprehension of in front of, behind, above, below, and near are also discussed. It is shown that the acquisition of prepositions is a protracted affair, continuing at least through the infant school years. Some theoretical and practical implications of the study of late language development are noted.

A Comparison of Individual and Group Instruction Across Response Tasks.

This investigation examines whether the acquisition of three response tasks would differ significantly in individual and group instruction formats. Severely handicapped students were instructed in the receptive understanding of prepositions, color discrimination, and dressing skills. The results demonstrate no significant difference in acquisition of prepositions and color discrimination between instructional formats, but a significant difference in favor of individual instruction is demonstrated for the dressing skills.