Kuria, John Kariuki (2007) Acquisition of the English Prepositional Phrase by Kenyan School Children. Masters thesis, Kenyatta University.
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Abstract
This study falls within the field of Applied Linguistics and concerns the area of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). It aims at describing the acquisition of the English prepositional phrase (PP) by Kenyan school children. The focus is to determine the sequence of acquisition of the constituents within this phrase as well as the syntactic functions realized by the various PP forms used by the subjects. The study also explains the learner language by way of investigating the contribution of the variables of time and sex in the acquisition of this syntactic structure.The study uses a group of forty eight children drawn from four different time levels across primary and secondary schools, and equally distributed between the sexes. Data is collected by two methods: free composition and picture description. Data analysis involves identification and computation of the PP forms and functions. The Frequency Analysis Model is used to determine the developmental sequences of the phrase. The relationship between the variables of sex and time, and syntactic performance is determined by computing the frequency distribution of informants across the interlanguage (IL) varieties. This is done with the aid of the Implicational Scaling Model. The results are displayed in tables and the statistical significance of the variables in relation to syntactic performance is then calculated using the chi-square test. The findings of this study are intended to be useful in contributing to SLA theory and improving language pedagogy in Kenyan schools.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools L Education > LC Special aspects of education P Language and Literature > PE English |
| Divisions: | Africana |
| Depositing User: | Lee Colombino |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Apr 2017 10:30 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Apr 2017 10:30 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/1628 |
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