Variation in the structure of complex sentences in English and Ịzọn languages

Abstract

The learning of a new language is usually challenging. This is because the learning process is usually complicated by differences in the linguistic parameters of the learner's first language and those of the target language. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the structures of English and Ịzọn complex sentences in order to know the different parameters these languages apply in the construction of complex sentences. The study, which employed Chomsky’s Minimalist Program (MP) and Robert Lados’s Contrastive Analysis (CA) used the descriptive design. Data for the study were drawn from native speaker’s competence and interviews. Findings revealed that although English and Ịzọn share few parameters, there are overt parametric variation in the formation of complex sentences. Findings revealed that English independent clauses are promiscuous; they could occur at any position of the complex structures, while Ịzọn dependent clauses occur only at the initial positions of complex constructions. It was also discovered that English dependent clauses, especially relative clauses could be embedded. That is, a clause within a clause. However, this parameter is not found in Ịzọn. The study, which concluded that the parametric variations discovered would pose major challenges to the Ịzọn English learners, recommended that, teachers of English as a second language should concentrate on the areas with overt differences in order to overcome the challenges facing the Ịzọn bilinguals.