THE ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ ACQUISITION AND PRODUCTION OF SUBJECT-OBJECT RELATIVE CLAUSES

Öz

Studies on the acquisition, production and comprehension of relative clauses have been increasing dramatically in recent decades. Various models have been proposed to explain the mechanism and dynamics of relative clauses. The relative complex nature of relative clauses has been challenging linguists and cognitive scientists. However, one of the commonalities in these models is that object relative clauses are harder to process, comprehend and produce than subject relative clauses. This study aimed to focus on the adult learners’ acquisition of relative clauses. Therefore, four tasks were developed to elicit the data regarding the production and comprehension of subject-object relative clauses. Hamilton’s subject-object hypothesis was tested. Five international participants learning Turkish and seven Turkish individuals learning English were involved in the study. The results show that all of the participants produced and comprehended subject relative clauses more easily than object relative clauses. The findings of the study support those of the related literature in that object relative clauses are harder to process, produce and comprehend.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Relative Clauses
• Second Language Acquisition
• Linguistic Production
• Object-Subject Relative Clauses

İKİNCİ DİLİ ÖĞRENEN YETİŞKİNLERİN ÖZNE-NESNE KONUMUNDAKİ SIFAT CÜMLECİKLERİNİ EDİNİMİ

Öz

Sıfat cümleciklerinin edinilmesi, üretilmesi ve anlaşılması üzerine çalışmalar, son yıllarda önemli bir şekilde artmaktadır. Sıfat cümleciklerinin mekanizmasını ve dinamiklerini açıklamak için çeşitli modeller önerilmiştir. Sıfat cümleciklerinin görece karmaşık doğası, dilbilimciler ve bilişsel bilim alanında çalışan insanlar için önemli bir sorun olarak devam etmektedir. Bununla birlikte, bu modellerdeki ortak yönlerden biri, nesne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerinin işlenmesinin, anlaşılmasının ve üretilmesinin özne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerine gore daha zor olmasıdır. Bu çalışma, yetişkin öğrencilerin sıfat cümleciklerini edinmelerine odaklanmıştır. Özne-nesne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerinin üretimi ve anlaşılmasına ilişkin verileri ortaya çıkarmak için dört veri toplama aracı geliştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada Hamilton’un özne-nesne hipotezi test edilmiştir. Hamilton’a göre nesne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerinin edinimi özne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerinden daha zordur ve daha geçtir. Çalışmaya Türkçe öğrenen beş uluslararası ve İngilizce öğrenen yedi Türk öğrenci katılmıştır. Sonuçlar, tüm katılımcıların özne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerini nesne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerine göre daha kolay ürettiklerini ve anladıklarını göstermektedir. Çalışmanın bulguları, nesne konumundaki sıfat cümleciklerinin işlenmesinin, üretilmesinin ve anlaşılmasının daha zor olduğu ilgili alan yazındaki bulguları desteklemektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sıfat Cümlecikleri
• İkinci Dil Edinimi
• Dilbilimsel Üretim
• Özne - Nesne Konumundaki Sıfat Cümlecikleri

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