The present study sets out to reveal certain features of the initial state of Ll-Chinese L2-English learners' mind. Specifically,
Chinese-speaking learners never accept such LI-allowed CP clauses as "* She mathematics failed", "* This child, head is big", "? Apple I like", "* Vegetables, I hate pepper", even if some of the underlined beyond-IP NPs are marginally acceptable in English. The LI knowledge related to these structures seems to be initially unlearned.
To approach the above research issue, the present study begins with a comparison of different nominal constructions at matrix spec-CP and adjunct spec-CP in Chinese and English within the framework of generative grammar. The comparison yields the finding that any NP beyond IP retains its Case covertly, and it is the unconscious sense of Case that leads to the spontaneous structuring from the LI-specific root CP to an L2-allowed root IP, a seemingly universal phenomenon at the initial stage of
L2 acquisition. A multi-focus investigation with 150 L1-Chinese, L2 English subjects at different learning stages strongly evidenced the above analysis.
Underpinning these learning phenomena are two mechanisms hypothetically dictated by the human language faculty. One is the proposed universal tendency for L2 learners to assume their target language to be a subset of the L1. The other is that the sense of Case plays a more basic role in language
Acquisition than the structural projection.