Use of Verb Bias and Complementizer Cues in L2 Written Production

This study investigates how L2 learners use verb bias information and the complementizer that in their production of English sentences. In a written production task, L1 Korean L2 English learners were presented with thirty English verbs ranging from verbs with strong direct object (DO) bias to verbs with strong sentential complement (SC) bias. The proportion of SC sentence structures produced by the L2 learners showed a positive correlation with SC-bias strength and a significant negative correlation with its DO-bias strength. These results suggest that the L2 learners had acquired verb bias frequencies and used verb bias information in a way similar to native English speakers. However, results also revealed a pattern in L2 learners’ use of the optional complementizer that that differed from results previously reported for native English speakers. The proportion of sentences for which the complementizer was used to introduce the embedded clause was positively correlated with the verb’s strength of SC-bias and negatively correlated with strength of DO-bias. The tendency for L2 learners to prefer redundant cues in written production are discussed in terms of exposure-based accounts of language acquisition.