Chapter 1 the study of collocations

2.2  Syntax 
 
 
Empirical evidence for developmental sequences in the area of syntax is 
also available.  Studies identified developmental sequences for the acquisition 
of ESL interrogatives (Huang 1970; Butterworth 1972; Ravem 1970, 1974; Young 
1974; Wagner-Gough 1975; Adams 1978; Cazden, Cancino, Rosansky & 
Schumann 1975; Gillis & Weber 1976; for a review see Larsen-Freeman & Long 
1991).  Four stages of interrogative formation in ESL were identified:  
 
 
Stage 1.  Rising intonation 
 
 
e.g.  He work today? 
 
Stage 2.  Uninverted Wh-word, with or without an auxiliary 
 
 
e.g.  What he (is) saying? 
 
Stage 3.  Overinversion 
 
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e.g.  Do you know where is it? 
 
Stage 4.  Differentiation 
 
 
 e.g.  Does she like where she lives? 
 
(examples from Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991:93) 
 
 
Four stages of acquisition were also identified for negation in ESL:  
 
 
Stage 1: no + X 
 
 
e.g. 'No book', 'No you playing here' 
 
Stage 2: no/don't Verb 
 
 
e.g. 'He don't have job' 
 
Stage 3: auxiliary-negation 
 
 
e.g. 'I can't play the guitar' 
 
Stage 4: analysed don't  
 
 
e.g. 'She doesn't drink alcohol' 
  
(examples from Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991:94; for a review see 
 Schumann 
1979). 
 
 
Studies in German word order acquisition yielded a five stage model of 
development in the acquisition of German L2 (Meisel et al. 1981).  The 
Multidimentional Model provided a theoretical basis for the observed 
acquisition order and was further extended to ESL acquisition (Pienemann & 
Johnston 1987).  According to the model, invariant developmental stages in the 
 
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acquisition of certain morphological and syntactic elements in both German 
and English can be predicted and explained in terms of "hierarchically ordered 
speech processing constraints" (Pienemann, Johnston & Brindley 1988:217).  
Based on the same data Pienemann (1984), (1985), and (1989) suggests that 
formal input impedes rather than promotes language acquisition, therefore the 
formal instruction of syntax can be abandoned (see also Dulay & Burt 1973).  
For a review of the debate on whether instruction affects L2 acquisition see 
Long (1983); for a critique of the Multidimensional Model see Hudson (1993). 
 
The acquisition of relative clauses in ESL was also investigated and 
found to follow a developmental route similar to that found in some L1 
acquisition studies (Schumann 1980). 
 
Apart from describing developmental stages for the acquisition of a 
single syntactic structure, there have also been studies that investigated the 
existence of acquisition orders of grammatical structures.  Fathman (1977) 
tested the usage of 20 grammatical structures by 500 non-native English-
speaking children learning English in public schools in the United States.  She 
found difficulty orders (or learning orders) that were similar for students 
coming from different language backgrounds and ages.  Fathman suggests that 
the forms found to be used correctly early in the learning of L2 are those which 
are needed for effective communication. 
 
Difficulty orders were also found by Yamada and Matsuura (1982) in the 
acquisition of English articles by Japanese students.  Yamada and Matsuura 
reported that the definite article was the easiest for both intermediate and 
 
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advanced students.  The zero article was most difficult for the intermediate 
students, while the indefinite article remained most difficult for the advanced 
level students. 
 
In a functional approach to linguistic universals in L2 acquisition 
research, Keenan and Comrie (1977) constructed the Accessibility Hierarchy for 
Relativisation.  They argue that the degree of difficulty for relativising on a