Factors influencing the acquisition of motion constructions containing the verb “đi” in Vietnamese by Chinese learners

Abstract

Directed motion construction is a linguistic phenomenon observed in both Chinese and Vietnamese languages, which are currently classified as satellite­framed languages. The objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the acquisition process of motion constructions containing the verb “đi” among  Chinese learners. To achieve this, a survey was administered to 90 Chinese learners at various proficiency levels. The preliminary findings indicate that (i) non­linguistic factors such as temporal constraints, environmental context, and proficiency level significantly impact the acquisition process of Chinese learners; (ii) linguistic factors specifically influence the acquisition of non­directed motion constructions, which is comparatively easier to acquire compared to directed motion constructions. Additionally, (iii) within the realm of directed motion constructions, the acquisition process varies depending on the specific path types, with Goal > Route > Source representing a hierarchical order of difficulty. Consequently, despite their shared satelliteframed status, Chinese learners encounter challenges when acquiring Vietnamese motion constructions, although some advantages are also evident.