@article{Shoji_2020, title={English Speaker Acquisition of Topic and Subject in Multiple Clause Sentences in Japanese}, volume={8}, url={https://journal.fi/store/article/view/82595}, DOI={10.23993/store.82595}, abstractNote={<p>This study investigated native English speakers’ acquisition of the constraint for topic-<em>wa </em>and the preference for subject-<em>ga </em>in multiple-clause sentences in Japanese. The constraint for topic-<em>wa </em>is that the topic-<em>wa </em>cannot appear in certain types of subordinate clauses, and the preference for subject-<em>ga </em>is that the overt subject-<em>ga </em>in a subordinate clause should not overlap the topic for a matrix clause. Two sentence-completion experiments were conducted with native English-speaking participants, who were considered advanced-level Japanese learners, as well as native Japanese-speaking participants (the control group). The results indicated that although English speakers followed the constraint for the topic-<em>wa</em>, they frequently used the topic-<em>wa </em>as non-subject topics (unlike native Japanese speakers) when an embedded subordinate clause intervened between the topic-<em>wa </em>and the rest of the matrix clause. Also, English speakers used the same subject-<em>ga </em>for both subordinate and matrix clauses, unlike the native Japanese speakers’ preference. The outcome implies that English speakers associated the topic-<em>wa </em>with English non-subject topics, and the subject-<em>ga </em>with English subjects.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Studia Orientalia Electronica}, author={Shoji, Shinichi}, year={2020}, month={May}, pages={63–84} }