Acquisition of English Causative Psych Verbs by Chinese Learners

This study centers upon, the form-meaning connections of second language (L2) causative psych verbs. More specifically, it attempts to (1) interpret the Chinese learners' internal representation of knowledge on English causative psych verbs, (2) explain how and to what extent the transfer of the first language (Chinese) motivates similar or different outcomes at different second language (English) proficiency levels, and, consequently, (3) figures out how the Chinese English learners acquire the ability of using second language causative psych verbs' structure accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately. Based on 90 Chinese English learners and 30 native English speakers, it reveals that Chinese is a crucial factor to influence the acquisition of causative psych verbs in English.