The Acquisition of Wh-Questions in Italian Learners of English: Evidence from Elicited Written Production

Abstract

The particular syntactic structure of English questions has made them a topic of interest in both first language and second language acquisition research. Wh-questions pose difficulties for both monolingual English-speaking children and second language learners of English. English main wh-questions require subject-auxiliary inversion (SAI) while embedded questions do not allow for it. Studies have shown that main questions are acquired before embedded questions and, due to the structural asymmetry between the two, learners often incorrectly apply SAI in embedded contexts. The goal of the present study is to investigate how intermediate/advanced L2 English learners acquire both main and embedded wh-questions, focusing on SAI errors. In addition, the present study examines the effect of wh-word, focusing on the arguments what, who, and whose and the adjuncts where and why. Through an elicited written production task, L1 Italian participants were asked to produce both main and embedded English questions. The results show low inversion rates in why-questions, a phenomenon that has been noted in both L1 and L2 acquisition research, higher rates of inversion in arguments in embedded questions, and particular difficulty acquiring and producing whose-questions. Within errors of non-inversion in embedded questions, learners overgeneralize obligatory SAI from main questions to embedded questions, rather than transferring L1 properties, indicating an interference of the L2. Pilot data gathered from highly advanced/bilingual L2 learners living in an English-speaking country for at least two years showed these participants produced more correct responses in both contexts compared to learners in a non-immersive context. However, the results indicate that errors in whose-questions and errors of non-inversion in embedded questions persist in highly advanced, bilingual speakers, perhaps signaling a need for explicit instruction of these structures.