Influence of L3 German on L2 English among L1 Chinese speakers in the word order of wh-word complement clauses

Abstract

Backward transfer from a third language (L3) to a second language (L2) is a relatively recent field compared to forward transfer. Adapted from the methodology of Cheung (2011), this dissertation sought to contribute to this area of Third Language Acquisition (TLA) by examining whether a positive backward transfer could be found from L3 German to L2 English among native (L1) Chinese speakers in the syntactic field, namely the word order of wh-word complement clauses. A translation test and an acceptability judgment test were devised to test the influence of L3 German. Despite lack of statistical significance, some interesting near-significant patterns emerged with two major findings.

Firstly, those with L3 German seemed more likely to choose the wh-word complement clauses in the target word order, i.e. ‘Wh- + Subj + Aux’, than those without German. Those with L3 German were also more inclined to reject or less ready to accept wh-word complement clauses in hyper-inversion, i.e. ‘Wh- + Aux + Subj’. Another trend suggests that those without L3 German seemed more likely to accept hyper-inversion, suggesting that they did not properly acquire subject-auxiliary inversion. The possible factors underlying the transfer are the salient distinction between German main clauses and subordinate clauses and psychotypological perception.

In summary, the patterns suggested that a positive backward transfer is plausible from L3 German to L2 English among L1 Chinese speakers. Theoretically, those with L3 German were more likely to have acquired a complete system of subject-auxiliary inversion. Pedagogically, teachers and students alike should be aware of the positive possibility that learning L3 German might facilitate the proper acquisition of subjectauxiliary inversion in L2 English or at least help raise awareness of it.