Double Negation in English and Ukrainian: a View from Cognitive Linguistics and a SLA Context

Q2 Arts and Humanities

Studies About Languages Pub Date : 2018-11-13 DOI:10.5755/J01.SAL.0.33.20886

Yakiv Bystrov, O. Petryna, Maiia Matton

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Irrespective of the fact that two negations in the same clause usually cancel each other out and result in an affirmative sentence, the phenomenon of double negation in English is still a disputable problem. These aspects all lead to linguistic complexity of double negation in SLA followed by a description of its relevant characteristics and contradictory aspects in English and Ukrainian. This study aims to establish a cognitive model of double negation as understatement via a mitigation operation as regards its specific contextual effects and to explore the impact of the language of instruction on the linguistic complexity of double negation to the learner of English. Within the theory of negation this research applies the hypothesis to the assumption that English is the main language of instruction for a Ukrainian learner, and how L2 learners’ comprehension and production of double negation occur. The hypothesis is empirically tested against the English sentences with their Ukrainian equivalents and the tasks in the questionnaire written by learners of English. The results of my research suggest that when learners interpret L2 sentences with more than one negative element we identify both similar and different double negatives in a students’ first and second language that influence enhanced awareness of double negation and which is important for successful L2 comprehension and use. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.33.0.20886

查看原文本刊更多论文

英语和乌克兰语的双重否定:认知语言学和二语习得语境的视角

尽管同一从句中的两个否定通常会相互抵消，形成一个肯定句，但英语中的双重否定现象仍然是一个有争议的问题。这些方面都导致了二语习得中双重否定的语言复杂性，进而导致二语习得的相关特征和矛盾方面在英语和乌克兰语中的描述。本研究旨在通过缓解操作，建立一个将双重否定视为轻描淡写的认知模型，以了解其特定的语境效应，并探讨教学语言对英语学习者双重否定语言复杂性的影响。在否定理论中，本研究将这一假设应用于英语是乌克兰学习者的主要教学语言的假设，以及二语学习者对双重否定的理解和产生是如何发生的。这一假设是根据英语句子及其乌克兰语等价物和英语学习者撰写的问卷中的任务进行实证检验的。我的研究结果表明，当学习者用一个以上的否定元素来解释二语句子时，我们会在学生的第一语言和第二语言中识别出相似和不同的双重否定，这影响了对双重否定意识的增强，这对成功理解和使用二语很重要。DOI：http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.33.0.20886

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来源期刊

Studies About Languages Social Sciences-Linguistics and Language

CiteScore

0.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

32 weeks

期刊介绍： The journal aims at bringing together the scholars interested in languages and technology, linguistic theory development, empirical research of different aspects of languages functioning within a society. The articles published in the journal focus on theoretical and empirical research, including General Linguistics, Applied Linguistics (Translation studies, Computational Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Media Linguistics, etc.), Comparative and Contrastive Linguistics. The journal aims at becoming a multidisciplinary venue of sharing ideas and experience among the scholars working in the field.