L2 Acquisition of Mandarin Classifiers: How Distinct are Classifier-Language Learners from Non-Classifier Language Learners?

Abstract

The classifier system in Mandarin Chinese makes the language comparable to other classifier languages such as Japanese and Korean (e.g. Yamamoto [2003] on the acquisition of numeral classifiers among Japanese children) but distinct from nonclassifier languages such as English and French. This in turn bears important implications on second language acquisition (SLA). As reviewed by Zhao (2011), the classifier system constitutes one of the core areas of examination in the study of Mandarin Chinese as a second language (L2). Numerous SLA studies have been conducted, with particular attention to the extent to which L2 classifier acquisition will conform to the Numeral Classifier Accessibility Hierarchy (NCAH) (e.g., Hansen & Chen, 2001) or the degree in which the availability or unavailability of a classifier system in a learner’s first language (L1) will interact with the acquisition of a second language which is a classifier language (e.g., Liang, 2008). It is against this background that a small-scale corpus-based analysis of the use of classifiers in L2 Chinese was conducted, with the aim of answering the following key research question .....