Representations of Implicit and Explicit Knowledge in Chinese Learners of Portuguese as a Foreign Language-The Case of the Verbs Ser and Estar

Abstract

This study focuses on the comparison of representations of implicit and explicit knowledge in Portuguese learners of Chinese as a foreign language, aiming at investigating the role of explicit instruction of the verbs ser and estar. Based on theoretical concepts of implicit and explicit knowledge and the Interface esis, two of Chinese students (one of which is at the initial level of proficiency and the other is at the advanced level of proficiency) participated in our study. They were assessed at the level of their knowledge of the uses of the verbs ser and estar. In order to do this, we used the Timed Grammaticality Judgment Test (TGJT) and the Untimed Grammaticality Judgment Test (UGJT). The results indicate that explicit instruction plays a positive role in developing implicit knowledge of the verb ser and estar, and contributes to the increase of explicit knowledge and facilitates the acquisition of implicit knowledge of both the verbs ser and estar. With explicit instruction, the students with higher proficiency develop more explicit knowledge. However, for the implicit knowledge, there is no obvious change among students in both proficiency levels. Chinese students have many difficulties when the copula acts as the location and allocation functions. In addition, the students with lower proficiency have more difficulties when the copula assumes the allocation function. The research can help us recognize the importance of explicit instruction of verbs in the second and foreign language acquisition, especially in the case of the verbs ser and estar for Chinese-speaking learners, and can contribute to a better understanding of the foreign language acquisition process. Keywords