Avoidance of the use of English participial reduced relative clauses among L1 Thai learners

Abstract

The research examined avoidance behavior, i.e. a phenomenon where L2 learners avoid producing either an L2 structure which is non-existent in their L1 or a TL form differing from the L1 equivalent (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 2002). By semi-replicating Klienmann’s (1978) tests, the study aimed to determine whether L1 Thai learners would avoid producing the English participial reduced relative clause structure (PRRC). It was hypothesized that L1 Thai learners tended to avoid using the PRRC structure as a result of differences between their L1 and the L2. The research participants were twenty Thai undergraduate students. The research instruments consisted of a comprehension test, i.e. a test ensuring the subjects’ knowledge of the PRRC structure, and two indirect preference assessment tasks. Two tasks, a cloze test and a Thai-English translation test, were employed to investigate the participants’ preference between PRRCs and relative clauses (RCs). Results showed that the L1 Thai subjects tended not to avoid the PRRC structure. It is assumed that three possible factors were involved: the L2 learners’ familiarity with the PRRC structure, simplicity of the participial reduced relative clause, and the nature of the tasks. The Factors of L2 Non-Avoidance Hypothesis (FNAH) was proposed to account for the participants’ tendency of L2 non-avoidance. The essence of the FNAH is that L2 learners do not always avoid using an L2 structure which is non-existent in their L1 or a TL feature which is different from the L1 equivalent. Other factors have to be taken into consideration.