Term
2006
Capstone
Restricted Access Thesis
Degree Name
MAESL
Abstract
In order to discover if the relatively frequent occurrence of Japanese RCs reflects on RC production in English by the learners, this study looked at a group of Japanese RCs that would be rendered into English as adjectives, and investigated the following two research questions: (1) Do Japanese learners of English transfer the use of RCs in Japanese into English? That is, which strategies do they use in English, adjectives, RCs, or other structures, to express the function/meaning of Japanese RCs?, and (2) How is the transfer influenced by the learners command of RCs in English as well as by the learners' knowledge of adjectives in English that express the concept conveyed by Japanese RCs? Twenty-one adult Japanese learners of English took a translation test, a sentence combination test, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, and a stimulated recall interview. The results showed a small RC transfer rate, which suggests that the comparatively high frequency of Japanese RCs would not lead to frequent use of RCs in English. Findings in the study also suggest that the functions of RCs in Japanese and English would play a more important role in RC production in English than the differences in the form or frequency of RCs between the two languages.
Recommended Citation
Kano, Sanae, "Investigation of L1 influence on avoidance of relative clauses by Japanese learners of English: do the learners transfer the use of Japanese relative clauses into English?" (2006). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 322.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/322