Effects of Input Frequency Distribution on L2 Acquisition of Chinese Contraction Constructions

This study selected “再A也不V” as the target construction, examining the impact of skewed and equal input on L2 Acquisition of Chinese contraction structures (CCCs). The experiment involved 105 L2 learners with a Chinese level between HSK4 and HSK5, who were first taught CCCs with sequenced Zipfian frequency (SZF), random Zipfian frequency (RZF), or balanced frequency (BF). They then participated an untimed acceptability judgment task and a timed grammaticality judgment task. Both tasks showed the same result that SZF was more effective than RZF and BF, and this effectiveness was influenced by the participants’ explicit or implicit knowledge. The article also discussed effects of the typical and regular presentation of CCCs.

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