This study investigated the acquisition of reflexive pronouns by second language learners of English. The study proposed that when individual grammars are analyzed, the interlanguage systems of learners would reflect the acquisition stages identified in Franks and Connell (1996) for English speaking child language acquirers.; The three acquisition stages identified in this study did not, as predicted, reflect the acquisition stages of child language learners. One group of learners recognized only the referential dependency of the reflexive, by allowing any pragmatically reasonable noun phrase to serve as an acceptable antecedent. A second group of learners required a local antecedent only in a non-finite context. It is argued that these learners are respecting the structural constraints on acceptable antecedents for the reflexive, yet have misanalyzed the English reflexive as morphologically simplex. The third, and largest, group of learners exhibited target-like behavior showing that ultimate attainment is possible for English reflexives.; The possible influences of the types of reflexives in a learner's first language as well as the number of prior languages are considered as possible factors slowing down the acquisition of English reflexives.
展开▼
