Applicability of subset principle in relative clauses of English by Turkish L2 learners

This study investigates the applicability of subset principle in relative clauses (who, which, that) by L2 learners. Another goal of this investigation is to provide insights into the developmental patterns of second language learners during the process of the activation of principles in further languages. The nativist models assume that L1 learners of English tend to favor the use of a more constrained grammar, the subset, while L2 learners have a tendency to choose more inclusive one, the superset. Based on this, it can be predicted that who and which in relative clauses - the subset- is acquired and used later than that which corresponds to the superset and there exists a gradual approximation to a native-like performance as L2 learners’ proficiency increases. To examine this issue, we aim to administer an offline test to two groups of L2 learners of English who study at Middle East Technical University and 10 native speakers of English as the control group. Additionally, an online test is planned to be conducted in order to shed lights on how these structures are processed in real time. It is predicted that whereas sensitivity to grammatical accuracy overrides the Subset Principles as L2 learners become more proficient, the relevant principle still poses as an important factor in real time second language processing.