Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: KRICHYNAH LOUREN GANDARA DE LIMA FREITAS

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : KRICHYNAH LOUREN GANDARA DE LIMA FREITAS
DATE: 13/01/2026
TIME: 10:30
LOCAL: Virtual
TITLE:

THE ACQUISITION OF NEGATIVE INVERSION BY BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE–ENGLISH BILINGUALS

KEY WORDS:

Brazilian Portuguese–English bilinguals, L2 acquisition, negative inversion, Interface Hypothesis, syntax-pragmatics interface.

PAGES: 26
BIG AREA: Lingüística, Letras e Artes
AREA: Letras
SUMMARY:

This project investigates the acquisition of negative inversion in English by highly proficient bilingual speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and English. In light of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), which posits that linguistic structures involving the syntax–pragmatics interface exhibit persistent optionality in L2 acquisition, this study examines how these speakers deal with the syntactic restriction of subject–auxiliary inversion triggered by emphatic negative adverbial phrases. To this end, an acceptability judgment experiment will be conducted, in which native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese with high proficiency in English will evaluate sentences using a 7-point Likert scale. The experimental materials consist of 8 target sentences with negative inversion (e.g., Nowhere can I find this book online), 8 target sentences without subject–auxiliary inversion, and 48 filler sentences displaying different syntactic structures. The hypothesis to be tested is that bilingual speakers will show reduced sensitivity to deviations from the canonical negative inversion structure, specifically to the absence of subject–auxiliary inversion in the target sentences. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of L2 acquisition of syntactic structures whose realization is constrained by pragmatic factors, by examining the behavior of Brazilian Portuguese–English bilinguals with respect to negative inversion.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - SHALALEH JAVADI
Presidente - CANDIDO SAMUEL FONSECA DE OLIVEIRA
Interno - RENATO CAIXETA DA SILVA