Abstract
The Chinese particle le (了) has proven to be challenging for L2 learners to acquire, both because it may function as either a perfective aspect marker or a sentence-final modal particle and because its usage is subject to various semantic, syntactic, prosodic, and discourse constraints. Previous research into the development of knowledge of the uses of le and the order of acquisition of its functions and meanings has yielded inconsistent results. Furthermore, due to the limited data available, previous studies have usually employed written corpus data produced by a small number of learners from a specific L1 background. Utilizing the spoken subcorpus of the large-scale Guangwai-Lancaster Chinese Learner Corpus, this study closely examines the uses of le by learners of Chinese from diverse L1 backgrounds as well as the developmental pattern of their acquisition of this particle. Results demonstrate that learners generally use le in speech with a low frequency and a high degree of accuracy. Significant increase in frequency of use is observed between beginner and intermediate learners, while that in accuracy is observed between intermediate and advanced learners. Evidence from the current study does not support a specific acquisition order for the basic functions of le. Learner errors primarily involve overuse of the particle in conjunction with statives and may be largely attributed to learners’ deficient knowledge of the constraints of its usage. Findings of our investigation have useful implications for the instruction of the particle le.
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Notes
- 1.
GLCLC is a result of the collaboration between Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Lancaster University under the British Academy Scheme (Grant No. 120462). It is freely accessible at: https://www.sketchengine.eu/guangwai-lancaster-chinese-learner-corpus/.
- 2.
Learners in this corpus are categorized as beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners based on their proficiency test (e.g., HSK) scores.
- 3.
HSK is short for Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (the Chinese Proficiency Test), an official test similar to TOEFL or IELTS in English. This corpus is freely accessible at: http://bcc.blcu.edu.cn/hsk.
- 4.
The data produced by L1 interlocutors were excluded.
- 5.
All the incidences of le produced by native Chinese speakers were excluded.
- 6.
Another type of error encoded in GLCLC involves incomplete or empty sentence meaning, as in (3). This type of error is excluded from the analysis as it has little to do with the use of le.
- 7.
It should be replaced by 发生 (fāshēng, happen).
- 8.
The correct word order is 我们终于成功了 (wǒmen zhōngyú chénggōngle).
- 9.
The Sketch Engine automatically extracted 83 instances of le + SP. The instance in (6) was excluded because it was clearly an instance of perfective le:
- 10.
更加大了 (gèngjiā dà le, much bigger) may have be intended here, with 大 (dà, big) missing.
- 11.
As a reviewer points out, an additional explanation for this error may be its aural similarity to the common expression 怎么了(zěnmele, what’s wrong).
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 15BYY062), by the MOE Project of Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities in P. R. China (Project No. 17JJD740004), and by the Centre for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.
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Xu, H., Lu, X., Brezina, V. (2019). Acquisition of the Chinese Particle le by L2 Learners: A Corpus-Based Approach. In: Lu, X., Chen, B. (eds) Computational and Corpus Approaches to Chinese Language Learning. Chinese Language Learning Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3570-9_10
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