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Abstract Abstract: Whether syntactic features constrain language competence development is one of the key issues in second language acquisition research. The present study draws upon usage-based approaches to language learning to testify the effect of form-meaning mapping features on construction learning. We examined the production of the four types of verb argument constructions among English learners of the lower intermediate level and the upper intermediate level. The results showed that 1) form-meaning mapping features and proficiency levels produced a main effect on the production of argument constructions, suggesting that the two factors constrain construction learning; 2) acquisition of verb argument constructions followed the order of active construction>verbal passive construction>adjectival passive construction >middle construction in the two learning groups of different proficiency levels, which indicated that emergence of argument construction competence was a scalar phenomenon; 3) no significant improvement of argument construction production was found between the two proficiency levels. The study offers support to the claim that syntactic features determine language learning difficulties and constrain the representation and production of constructions.
Key words: usage-based approach of language learning; features of form-meaning mapping; verb argument construction
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