An Empirical Study On College Students’ Acquisition Of Null Subjects And Null Objects In English As A Second Language

Based on Chomsky’s Principle and Parameter theory, this research is primarily concentrated on the phenomenon of null subjects and null objects in Chinese college students’ EFL learning. Chinese and English embrace different parameter-setting in null arguments. The former allows both null subjects in finite sentences and null objects, and generally speaking the latter allows neither null subjects nor objects in formal conditions. Three experiments are conducted to investigate Chinese students’ null subjects and null objects in the SLA, each group with different English level, from three perspectives – acceptability, understanding and usage. It has been found that Chinese college students performed better in null subjects than null objects no matter in their finishing grammaticality judgment task or translation and writing tasks. That is, when the subjects are engaged in grammaticality judgment and Chinese-English test, there exists an asymmetry between null subjects and null objects usages. In their compositions, the subjects’ level of English affects their usage of null subjects and null objects. Although three groups of subjects have a high percentage of usage in subjects and objects, the lower level subjects have a significant difference. With their English proficiency increased, they will use less null subjects and null objects. However, there is no asymmetry between null subjects and null objects. Meanwhile, the expletive subject can be used as a trigger in changing their native language’s parameter into their second language parameter. It is proposed that the expletive subject makes Chinese college students quickly realize the necessity of subjects in English. Likewise, the argument’s nature and position have no significant effect on Chinese college students refusing null arguments, but affect them to use subjects and objects. That is, use of arguments in matrix sentences is more than the one in embedded sentence. The animate subjects used are more than non-animate ones and the non-animate objects are more than animate ones. These results support Chang Hui’ findings(2014). In the grammaticality and translation tests, they maintain a different acceptance for null subjects and objects. First, compared with null objects, they are easier to acquire non-null subject parameter. There is no significant difference in three groups of subjects’ acceptance in null subject and embedded subject. Second, compared with embedded null objects, they are easier to acquire matrix null objects parameter. Different results are drawn due to the different experimental instruments adopted. Composition belongs to the written output corpus, the grammaticality belongs to the sensitive and understanding material and the translation is concerned with understanding and output factors which is affected by Chinese syntax to a large degree.According to the above findings, this thesis offers some reasonable explanations accordingly. Firstly, Chinese college students with different levels are affected by their native language distinctively. The higher their levels of English are, the less affected they are by their native language’s negative transfer, thus they need to reset L2 parameters and gradually access UG. Secondly, not all of sentences used by subjects in test contain embedded sentences, and the subjects are usually the animate agents while the objects may be animate objects, or be more non-animate entities. Last but not least, the differences in inflection, vocabulary, syntax and pragmatics of both languages can have an effect on subjects to accept null subjects and null objects in English.