| This dissertation is an extension of earlier work (Halstead 1995 and 1996) that attempted to ascertain whether second language learners had access to the innate language faculty known as Universal Grammar (Chomsky, 1986). These earlier studies proved to be inconclusive as did numerous studies by other researchers. One of the things that the earlier studies did show was that nonnative speakers of English do not interpret reflexive pronouns in a native-like manner.; These are the facts of reflexive pronouns in English. There are four conditions necessary for the native-like interpretation of reflexive pronouns, namely coreferentiality, agreement, proper antecedent, and distance between the reflexive and its antecedent. After researching the available language teaching materials, it became clear that traditional instruction of reflexives in English only addressed two of these conditions, coreferentiality, and agreement.; The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether a more complete set of instructional materials, containing direct instruction of all four conditions, would be more successful at enabling students to interpret reflexives in a native-like manner. The experiment was a single-subject, multiple baseline procedure with cross-subject replication.; The results of this study strongly suggest that direct instruction of the four conditions necessary for the proper interpretation of reflexives in English is useful to language learners. Before the treatment, the subjects could not interpret reflexive pronouns in a native-like manner, in spite of traditional instruction and natural exposure to the language. Their ability to do so after the treatment implies that materials that teach all four factors are an improvement over the more traditional ones that taught only two of the four necessary elements. |
