The Role of Frequency on the Acquisition of L2 English Infinitive And Gerund Complements by L1 Thai Learners

Abstract

This study investigated how frequency influenced acquisition of L2 English infinitive and gerund complements among L1 Thai learners. Participants were separated into low and high proficiency groups based on their CU-TEP scores. Each group consisted of 30 participants. Data were collected using the Word Selection Task (WST) and the Grammaticality Judgement Test (GJT). Initial findings revealed that L1 Thai learners acquired infinitive complements before gerund complements. This could probably be explained by the usage-based theory, specifically, the concept of type frequency. It was assumed that learners acquired infinitive complements first because they were considered a high type frequency construction, and gerund complements later because they were considered a low type frequency construction. It was assumed that the high type frequency construction was easier for L2 learners to acquire because they were exposed more often to this construction type. Further investigation revealed that the frequency of verbs occurring in the target complement constructions probably contributed to the learners' low-level constructional schemas (i.e. the abstract representations of constructions which are lexically specific) and their language use.