The acquisition of the English plural morpheme by young EFL learners in China

Thesis

A growing body of literature about acquiring inflectional morphemes, such as past tense, by second language learners has been conducted (Jia, 2003; Ionin & Wexler, 2002). Many studies have focused on second language learners from the naturalistic setting. However, research investigating the acquisition of English plural morphemes by young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners is under researched. As a group with a large population worldwide, EFL learners received limited exposure compared to the learners from an immersive environment. Thus, attempting to understand EFL learners’ grammatical acquisition process better, this study aims to explore the plural morpheme acquisition process by young EFL learners in China. The study involved 60 child participants, categorised into two groups (N = 30 per group): Grade 4 and 6 in a primary school in China. One oral picture description task and one written gap-filling task were conducted with the children to assess their use of English plural morphemes. A language background questionnaire was spread to the parents of each child to examine the potential predictors impacting the grammar acquisition process. Findings demonstrated that after years of English instruction, Grade 4 and 6 children still struggle to produce accurate English plural morphemes in productive tasks. The results carry implications for English language teaching in China and call for more studies on the EFL community.

Authors: Cui, X

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qmvqydb62
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: quantitative; morphology acquisition; ALSLA2024; Mandarin Chinese; second language acquisition; ALSLA; English as a foreign language
• Subjects: English language--Study and teaching--Chinese speakers; English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers; Chinese; Grammar, Comparative and general--Word formation; Applied linguistics; Quantitative research