Markedness Considerations in the Acquisition of Conditional Sentences

Describes two experiments which assessed the ability of adult second language (L2) learners to produce and comprehend real, unreal, and past unreal English conditional sentences. Developmental differences are analyzed in relation to distinctive features. The analyses lend support to the explanatory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguage Learning Vol. 35; no. 3; p. 337
Main Author Berent, Gerald P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 1985
Subjects
Adult Learning
Comprehension
Conditionals
Discourse Analysis
English (Second Language)
Function Words
Language Research
Markedness
Second Language Learning
Sentence Structure
Speech Communication
Tenses (Grammar)
Verbs
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Summary:Describes two experiments which assessed the ability of adult second language (L2) learners to produce and comprehend real, unreal, and past unreal English conditional sentences. Developmental differences are analyzed in relation to distinctive features. The analyses lend support to the explanatory power of markedness theory in explaining L2 acquisition. (Author/SED)