Reader in Chinese Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge

Title: Trilingualism vs. bilingualism: sentence-final question particles ne and ba in L3 and L2 Mandarin grammars

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Abstract:

What makes trilingualism special compared to bilingualism? Unlike L2 acquisition, L3 acquisition involves one more previously learned language, thus bringing in more confounding factors. What are possible transfer sources at the initial stage of L3 acquisition: the L1, the L2 or the typologically/structurally similar language? To answer these questions, this presentation reports on a study examining the acquisition of two Mandarin sentence-final particles (SFPs) by L1 English-L2 Mandarin (E-M), L1 English-L2 Cantonese-L3 Mandarin (E-C-M) and L1 Cantonese-L2 English-L3 Mandarin (C-E-M) learners. Unlike the case in English, a statement in Mandarin and Cantonese can be converted into a question by merging an SFP at the sentence final position. Mandarin ba and ne are two question SFPs. However, they differ: ba has a confirmation-seeking feature and the ba sentence can stand alone as a question, while ne is used in a follow-up question and the ne question cannot be used out of the blue. Cantonese has equivalents of the two Mandarin SFPs and they behave the same as their counterparts in Mandarin. English employs tag questions and wh-phrases to undertake the functions of ba and ne respectively. Cantonese is structurally closer to Mandarin than English. One hundred and fifty-four participants (28 Mandarin native speakers; 51 E-M learners, 50 E-C-M learners, and 25 C-E-M learners) took part in the present study, which employed an offline Acceptability Judgement Task (AJT) and an online Cross-Modal Priming Task (CMPT). The results indicate that in identifying the inappropriateness of Mandarin ne questions used out of the blue, the E-C-M learners’ L3 Mandarin at the initial stage is facilitated by their knowledge of Cantonese, thus evidence of transfer from Cantonese. In the online priming task, cross-linguistic influence is found only in the L3 date but not in the L2 data. In addition, an on-line/off-line discrepancy is found in the L2 processing data. We will discuss our findings on the basis of hypotheses and models in the literature. 

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Bio:

Dr Boping Yuan is Reader in Language and Linguistics and a PhD supervisor at the University of Cambridge and a co-director of the Cambridge-CUHK Joint Research Laboratory for Bilingualism. He directs the Chinese programme in Cambridge. He is also a Fellow and Director of Studies in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Churchill College, Cambridge. His research interests are in linguistic approaches to second language acquisition and bi/multilingualism. He is currently working on an AHRC-funded project on acquisition of Chinese as a second and third language, under the programme of Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals and Transforming Societies. He has published numerous articles in refereed international journals as well as in journals in China, which include Language, Linguistics, Transactions of the Philological Society, Second Language Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Language Learning, International Review of Applied Linguistics, EUROSLA Yearbook, International Journal of Bilingualism, Lingua, 《外语教学与研究》，《世界汉语教学》, 《现代外语》, etc. He is an executive member of the Executive Committee of the World Chinese Language Teaching Society, and also serves as a member of editorial boards of a number of international and Chinese academic journals, which include: Second Language Research, International Review of Applied Linguistics, 《外语教学与研究》，《世界汉语教学》, 《现代外语》, etc.

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