Type
Text
Type
Thesis
Advisor
Ruiz-Debbe, Lilia | Ruiz-Debbe, Lilia D. | Hoberman, Robert.
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
Arabic, gender, noun-adjective agreement, number, Second langauge learner, Spanish | Language
Department
Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77704
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
This thesis investigates the causes of gender and number agreement errors in learners of both Arabic and Spanish as second languages. Data was collected from each of these groups during beginner level language courses at a university. There were a total of eight tests. The first six were adjective selection activities focusing on a specific noun phrase or sentence structure. The last two were written tests, elicited by images, where students had to produce their own nouns and adjectives. The common first language (L1) of the majority of participants is English, which lacks adjective agreement and does not have the parameter of (grammatical) gender while Spanish and Arabic do. Therefore, a basic assumption was that participants would make frequent agreement errors. Eight specific hypotheses about these error patterns were made and tested. Results showed that there are three main sources of adjective agreement errors in both Arabic and Spanish; internal (from the noun morphology), external (interference of other nouns) and errors due to L1 transfer (such as the lack of marking agreement). | 129 pages
Recommended Citation
Poulos, Anne-Marie Marguerite, "GENDER, NUMBER, NOUNS & ADJECTIVES: A Study of Grammatical Agreement in Second Language Learners of Arabic & Spanish" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3495.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3495