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Eliminating grammatical function assignment from hierarchical models of speech production: Evidence from the conceptual accessibility of referents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2012

ROGER HAWKINS ,
MONA ALTHOBAITI  and
YI MA
ROGER HAWKINS*
Affiliation:
University of Essex
MONA ALTHOBAITI
Affiliation:
University of Essex
YI MA
Affiliation:
University of Essex
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Roger Hawkins, Department of Language and Linguistics, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. E-mail: roghawk@essex.ac.uk
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Abstract

The assignment of grammatical functions has been a key feature of hierarchical (serial) models of speech production since their inception in the 1970s. This article argues that grammatical function assignment is neither sufficient nor necessary in such models. It reports a study of the effects of the conceptual accessibility of referents on the selection of English dative syntactic frames in production and shows that the effects relate to linear precedence rather than grammatical function assignment. A secondary topic addressed in the same study is whether second language speakers of English have difficulty integrating syntactic knowledge where it interfaces with conceptual accessibility in speech production. Findings suggest that advanced proficiency speakers do not and are qualitatively similar to native speakers. The implications of this for the interface hypothesis about second language acquisition are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 677 - 707
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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