Re-examining second language acquisition of English reflexives: new evidence for lexical learning driven process and against first language Transfer

Abstract

This study re-examines second language (L2) acquisition of English reflexives by testing 98 first language (L1)-Chinese learners of L2 English with different proficiency levels and 12 native English speakers as controls. Using a truth-value judgment task, we systematically tapped the learners’ judgments of various types of antecedents including long-distance objects. The results show that L2 English learners’ errors in referring English reflexives to long-distance antecedents cannot be due to L1 transfer of Chinese reflexive referential pattern. Instead, these errors align with those documented in the literature on native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. Moreover, as L1-Chinese learners’ English proficiency improved, most of them unlearned the errors, and performed similarly to native English adult controls. This developmental trajectory recapitulates the pattern seen in native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. These findings cast doubt on the view of L1 Chinese transfer and provide support for the Lexical Learning Hypothesis.