A Study On Order Of English Morphemes By Chinese Students In The Frame Of 4-M Model

For many years,researchers in second language acquisition have studied relative accuracy in production of morphemes. They have argued that accuracy implicates order of morpheme acquisition, but Myers-scotton and Jake note that few general principles explaining accuracy have been offered. The 4-M model can make principled predictions about accuracy. In this model, there are four types of morphemes: content morpheme, early system morpheme, bridge late system morpheme and outsider late system morpheme. In terms of 4-M model, the present study investigates order in Chinese students'production of English morphemes based on a written data from their learning English as a second language. It attempts to find some empirical evidence testing the three hypotheses predicted by the 4-M model.The present study consists of 6 parts. Part 1 is introduction which illustrates the purpose and significance of the study. In terms of 4-M model, the study attempts to present a systematic and quantitative analysis of morpheme order of production of Chinese students and confirm the three hypotheses predicted by 4-M model in SLA based on a written data from their learning English as a second language. Part 2 is literature review. Part 3 is theoretical framework which introduces the 4-M model mainly. The 4-M model predicts the three hypotheses in SLA and can make principled predictions about morpheme accuracy. Part 4 is research design. The study, based on previous researches, designs two kinds of tests for subjects. One is language proficiency test. The other is test paper for fill-in-blank questions and describing pictures. Two groups of Chinese students are determined by language proficiency assessment. Intermediate level students are 40 non-English major juniors. Advanced level students are 40 English major seniors. They are from the same school. After the tests are accomplished, 160 effective samples are acquired. The data is analyzed by SPSS 15.0 and the accuracy of different variables is compared. Part 5 is data analysis and discussion. The data is analyzed and compared as well as explained by 4-M model. Part 6 is conclusions and implications. According to the results of correct production of two level groups based on their written data, we can draw the following conclusions: 1. two level Chinese students produce content morphemes more accurately than both types of system morphemes. The first hypothesis is confirmed: content morphemes are produced more accurately than both types of system morphemes. 2. Totally speaking, within the class of system morphemes, two level Chinese students produce early morphemes more accurately than late ones. Although two groups of learners have more difficulty in correctly producing the early system morphemes for past participle -ed than those in correctly producing the late system morphemes (outsiders) for past tense–ed and 3rd person -s, the second hypothesis is largely confirmed: early system morphemes are produced more accurately than late ones. 3. Within the class of late system morphemes, two level Chinese students produce bridge morphemes more accurately than outsider ones. The third hypothesis is confirmed: bridge system morphemes are produced more accurately than outsider ones. At last, implications and limitations are introduced.In sum, the results of the present study confirm the three hypothesis predicted by 4-M model. The 4-M model can make principled predictions about accuracy. It is more systematic and predicts the accuracy order of morphemes effectively.