Knowledge of Information Structure in L2 English : Focusing on Dative and Passive Constructions

Knowledge of Information Structure in L2 English : Focusing on Dative and Passive Constructions

Information structure as an organizing principle of grammar is acknowledged as part of native speakers' linguistic competence together with their grammatical knowledge (Prince, 1988). This paper investigates the status of information structure in L2 English, focusing on the 'given before new' principle manifested in constructions such as dative alternation and the passive. Two types of data were analyzed: acceptability judgment data and composition data. The result reveals that non-native speakers exhibit a very weak pattern of the 'given before new' order in the dative and passive construction, though they were somewhat in full control of the formal structure of these constructions. This result is consistent with the findings of previous research which noted that the acquisition of information structure of an L2 may be more difficult than the acquisition of formal structure of an L2, possibly due to the probabilistic nature of the rules of information structure.