Syntactic functions of words grammatically related to verbs in interlanguage: A valency perspective

Abstract

This study is intended to examine the syntactic functions of words grammatically related to verbs in interlanguage. Based on probabilistic valency patterns, a wider variety and a larger number of syntactic functions were investigated. The distributional data of these syntactic functions show significant differences between interlanguage and the target language and between interlanguage at different proficiency levels. Specifically, verbs in interlanguage have stronger associations with subjects, adverbials and complements, whereas verbs in the target language are more strongly associated with prepositions and objects; verbs in lower-level interlanguage have stronger associations with subjects and complements, while verbs in higher-level interlanguage are more strongly associated with auxiliaries, connections and subordinations; the distributions of the syntactic functions in interlanguage gradually approach those in the target language as the proficiency level of interlanguage improves. Our analysis shows that the syntactic functions in interlanguage have unique, progressive, and probabilistic characteristics.