| The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the sequence of English oral interrogative development in the adult second language learner and to examine it in terms of the sequences which have been described for children acquiring English as a first language and those acquiring it as a second.;Totals for each subject and then beginning, intermediate and advanced levels for correct and incorrect forms were computed. Raw totals were turned into percentages and then averaged. The same procedure was also followed for computing the percentage of each question type compared to the total number of interrogative utterances in the corpus. The analytic approach used in the study is predominantly a performance one.;The sequence which emerged is summarized as follows: (1) No reliance on the uninverted Yes/No question on any level. (2) Sophisticated interrogative operations generated on the beginning level at the outset. (3) Growth, with relatively high accuracy rates nonetheless, on the beginning level with the inverted Yes/No question; even higher accuracy rates on the intermediate and advanced levels. (4) Growth in the use of the Wh- question on the beginning and intermediate levels, but a slight decline on the advanced level. (5) First appearance of the embedded question late on the beginning level; the acquisition of this form very much in progress on the advanced level. (6) First appearance of the tag question late on the beginning level; minimal use of the form throughout the levels.;The preceding was then compared to three sequences found in the literature: Bellugi (1965); Hatch (1974); Cazden with Cancino, Rosansky, and Schumann (1975). Similarities and differences between these sequences and the researcher's were discussed.;The population consisted of 14 subjects: nine Japanese speakers, three Chinese speakers and two native speakers of English. The data were gathered using oral elicitation tasks. After transcription, the data were displayed for each of the 14 subjects in terms of the tasks and the forms of the interrogative as follows: uninverted Yes/No questions; correct and incorrect inverted Yes/No questions; correct and incorrect Wh- questions; correct and incorrect embedded questions; tag questions; correct and incorrect do questions.;As the study progressed, the researcher felt the need to examine not only linguistic competence, but also communicative competence with the forms. Thus, questionnaires were given both to the subjects and their teachers in which the researcher atempted to ascertain the subjects' question-asking behavior in class and the sociolinguistic norms for the use of the interrogative in the subjects' cultures, among other items.;The teacher questionnaires characterize the subjects as "shy," "silent," "non-verbal" in the classroom. The subject questionnaires reveal that the norms for question-asking in the cultures, particularly in class, are not the same as those in American culture.;In light of the generally high rates of accuracy with the Yes/No and Wh- questions exhibited in the data, it appears that although the subjects have linguistic competence with the forms, they lack communicative competence with them.;Teachers in the United States and the Orient must not only be aware of the problem, but work with effort and creativity to help their students make not only the linguistic, but also the necessary communicative transitions between cultures. |
