Word order and case in the comprehension of L2 German by L1 English speakers

Abstract

This paper replicates and extends experiments by Gruter (2006) and Gruter & Conradie (2006) to explore some of the learnability implications of Full Transfer at the initial state of L2A. L1 English-speaking learners’ comprehension of L2 German questions and relative clauses is tested on the basis of a picture interpretation task. Patterns of (mis)interpretation of the German clauses suggest that lower-intermediate proficiency learners still access the L1 syntax in order to parse L2 input. This is taken to indicate that learners are influenced by L1 word order patterns in assigning thematic roles in L2 clauses. This is discussed in light of approaches to L2 parsing and processing which attribute different roles to L1 influence.