English Preposition Acquisition by ESL Learners: Is There a Natural Order?

Second only to articles, prepositions are the most difficult grammatical structures for ESL/EFL learners to acquire (Covitt, 1976 as cited in Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1983). With learners of English as a first language, there is evidence that prepositions are acquired in a certain sequence. However, few studies have examined the acquisition of prepositions by ESL learners. This thesis reports on a study designed to see if there is a preposition acquisition order for second language learners. This study examined the nine most common prepositions in English-at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with-and several of their functions. Sixty-one subjects from four different language backgrounds (Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese) and three levels of English proficiency (high-beginning, intermediate and advanced) completed an English cloze test requiring at least five uses of each preposition in each of its functions. Actual samples of student writing at each of the levels of English proficiency were also examined. The results of this study indicate that there is not a universal order of preposition acquisition but there may be tendencies toward an order. In examining student errors with prepositions, there is evidence of language transfer and interference in the use of English prepositions. Implications for the teaching of prepositions are discussed.

Thesis Author: Campbell, Robyn J.

Year Completed: 1999

Committee Members: Mark W. Tanner, Randall J. Lund

Thesis Chair: Cheryl Brown