Overexplicit Referent Tracking in L2 English: Strategy, Avoidance, or Myth?

• Published in: Language learning Vol. 65; no. 4; pp. 824 - 859
• Main Author: Ryan, Jonathon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2015; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Accessibility Theory; Anaphora; Asians; Chinese languages; Communication Strategies; developmental pragmatics; Developmental Stages; Discourse strategies; English (Second Language); English as a second language; English as a second language learning; L2 pragmatics; Language Research; Language Usage; Misconceptions; Native Speakers; Noun phrases; Nouns; overexplicitness; Phrase Structure; Reference (Semantic); referent tracking; Role; Second Language Learning

The tendency of intermediate and advanced second language speakers to underuse pronouns and zero anaphora has been characterized as a developmental stage of overexplicitness, yet little consideration has been given to whether learners create sufficient contexts for their use. This study analyzed ref...