Formulating Sentences in English as a Second Language by Native Speakers of Spanish

• In Event: 14.044 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.044-28 - Enhancing Skills of Adult English Language Learners

Abstract

This study examined how native speakers of Spanish formulated sentences in English as a second language (L2) when randomly ordered words were orally presented. Participants included 206 adult literacy students (70 Spanish speakers and 136 English speakers; Word Reading Equivalency: 3rd – 5th grade). The Word Ordering subtest of the Test of Language Development-3 was administered. Despite a similar pattern of performance in the sentence type (i.e., declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence), the two groups showed a different pattern in the misuse of syntactic features. Verbs were the most conspicuously difficult item for the native speakers of Spanish. The findings of this study were explained through the complexity of English verbs a typological difference between Spanish and English.

Authors

• Hye K. Pae, University of Cincinnati

• Daphne Greenberg, Georgia State University

• Nicole Taylor, Spelman University

• Jacqueline Laures-Gore, Georgia State University

• Lidia Y Quinones, Georgia State University