dc.contributor.advisor | Tannacito, Dan J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Abdullayeva, Ophelia | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2016-01-08T20:10:19Z | |
dc.date.available | 2016-01-08T20:10:19Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1993 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11693/17441 | |
dc.description | Ankara : Faculty of Humanities and Letters and Institute of Economics and Social Sciences, Bilkent Univ., 1993. | en_US |
dc.description | Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1993. | en_US |
dc.description | Includes bibliographical refences. | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the acquisition of
English ergative verbs by Turkish EFL students. In contrast with transitive
and intransitive verbs, these verbs can form both grammatically
correct passive and intransitive ergative constructions. Generative
grammar predicts that in the process of acquiring ergative verbs, learners
will prefer to use passive constructions to intransitive ergative ones
(Zobl, 1989).
The study investigated five research questions and tested nine
hypotheses. The research questions considered the difference a) in the
overall amount of incorrect judgments about ergative verbs; b) in the
amount of incorrect judgments about ergative structures of ergative verbs;
c) in the amount of incorrect judgments about ergative versus passive
structures of ergative verbs; and d) in the amount of errors in the test
sentences with ergative verbs, at three EFL proficiency levels'. One more
question studied in the present research was whether the Turkish learners
would be able to discriminate between English ergative, intransitive, and
transitive verbs.
This study is a descriptive study conducted in an experimental
setting. Special research instruments were devised to elicit ergative data
— a grammaticality judgment task and a production task. The performance
of subjects at experimental tasks was compared against language proficiency
levels created in accordance with the results of two sections of the
Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency. The results of the experimental
tasks were analyzed using statistical procedures — Kruskal-Wallis
One Way Analysis of Variance and repeated-measures t-test.
Analyses showed significant differences between proficiency levels in
the overall number of incorrect judgments about ergative verbs and about
full ergative structure of ergative verbs (e.g., The window broke into
small pieces). However, the difference in the number of incorrect judgments
about cut ergative structure (e.g.. The window broke) and in the number of errors in the test sentences with ergative verbs was not
statistically significant. The repeated-measures t-test indicated that at
the low and mid levels the difference in the number of incorrect judgments
about full ergative and passive structures of ergative verbs was statistically
significant whereas at the high level this difference was not significant.
The analysis of data also showed great variations in the acc[uisition
of different verbal structures of acquisition of ergative^ transitive, and
intransitive verbs.
The results obtained in the present research confirmed the main
findings reported in the literature on the acquisition of ergative verbs
(Zobl, 1989), i.e., that the learners will overgeneralize the passive rule
to ergatives. | en_US |
dc.description.statementofresponsibility | Abdullayeva, Ophelia | en_US |
dc.format.extent | ix, 75 pages of leaves | en_US |
dc.language.iso | English | en_US |
dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | en_US |
dc.subject.lcc | PE1068.T8 A23 1993 | en_US |
dc.subject.lcsh | English language--Study and teaching (Higher)--Turkey. | en_US |
dc.title | The acquisition of English ergative verbs by Turkish EFL students | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
dc.department | M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language | en_US |
dc.publisher | Bilkent University | en_US |
dc.description.degree | M.S. | en_US |
dc.identifier.itemid | BILKUTUPB013798 | |