The Acquisition of English Non-anaphoric Bridging Definite by Japanese Learners: Focusing on Lexical Sensitivity Regarding Situational Uniqueness

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Date

2023-08

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Ohio State University. Libraries

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Abstract

This study examined the acquisition of the English definite article the by Japanese learners of English. The learners’ judgments made on non-anaphoric bridging, a specific usage of the that requires semantic-pragmatic interface, is mainly observed. Two tasks were used in the study: (1) an acceptability judgment task and (2) a word ordering task that was designed specifically for this study. The relationship between word ordering based on the noun phrases’ association with the given situation and the judgments made in the acceptability judgment task was analyzed. The results suggest that the acquisition of such usage of the may be related to lexical sensitivity toward the given noun phrase in terms of the relationship with the presupposed situation.

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Keywords

Bridging Definite, Pragmatic Competence, Lexical Sensitivity, Situational Uniqueness

Citation

Kim, Minn. "The Acquisition of English Non-anaphoric Bridging Definite by Japanese Learners: Focusing on Lexical Sensitivity Regarding Situational Uniqueness." Buckeye East Asian Linguistics, vol. 7 (August 2023), p. 77-84.