L2 ACQUISITION OF A CHALLENGING CLASS OF VERBS (UNACCUSATIVE VERBS): A CASE STUDY OF UBU ENGLISH FOR COMMUNICATION STUDENTS
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Abstract
In investigating the language learning development of students in the English and Communication Program of Ubon Ratchathani University who have learned a challenging class of verbs called “unaccusative”, 4 groups (20 in each group) of students ranging from the freshmen to the seniors were asked to take the grammaticality judgment and written production tests. The results showed that students of beginning years performed better than those of graduating years. Supported by those results, Unaccussative Trap and U-shaped Development theories explained that the declining ability of students indicated progress rather than failure in learning. The results were, however, not sufficient to support or reject the hypotheses raised by Learnability and Fundamental Difference Hypothesis theories.
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References
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