Pedagogical grammar as the framework of tefl research. part 5. native language morphology acquisition at the simple sentence stage

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the experimental data analysis in the said sphere, as well as the list of the researched grammar morphemes. Basing upon a high degree of the data similarity, the author makes a conclusion that the native language morphology acquisition is a rule-governed process, which might be based upon the operation of language universals. Taking into account the said data, the author also offers assumptions concerning the existence of a universal sequence in the process of the grammar morphemes acquisition in English as a native language, as well as regarding the speed different allomorphsare acquired at. A particular morpheme may be acquired relatively quickly, while the fine-tuning of allomorph use microrules within the said general rule may require a relatively longer period. The author also offers the reason why some allomorphs are acquired faster in relation to natural words as compared to artificial ones. The paper summarises the characteristics, which may accelerate or slow down the process of grammar morphemes acquisition: perceptual saliency, frequency, semantic and grammar complexity. The latter is subdivided into further constituents: presence of redundancy or allomorphism and paradigm regularity. The author sums up the general principles of morphology acquisition in English as a native language, which amount to the following. Lexical acquisition means that paradigmatic variants are memorized as holistic units, and only later, their constituents are distributed among the corresponding categories. Generalisation is the result of subconscious formulation of a hypothetic rule related to the said variants use in speech. Overgeneralisation is viewed as a transfer of the specific rule to a wider range of objects than it actually applies to. Finally, uniqueness involves blocking the creation of the rules, allowing, for example, two plural forms of the same word. The author also outlines the prospects of his further research.