Typological and Universal Influences on the Acquisition of Alternating Unaccusative Constructions: A Study of Moroccan EFL Learners

This study investigates how MA learners of English interpret AUC, focusing on the interaction between universal syntactic principles and typological differences. Within the framework of UG, AUC universally lacks an external argument and selects a single internal argument. However, cross-linguistic variation exists in how AUC is morphologically marked. Unlike English, MA relies on overt morphological markers to show alternation. These typological differences may influence MA learners’ judgments of English AUC. An acceptability judgment task was submitted to 31 intermediate and 31 advanced learners. Using the scores from a group of 39 native speakers as a benchmark, the results revealed that both groups of learners did not perform at the same level as the native group. This implies that MA learners seem to delay the acquisition of AUC due to non-equivalence between L1 and L2. Although the advanced group received higher mean scores than the intermediate group, further tests showed no significant difference between them, which suggests that proficiency level was not influential in judging AUC. Thus, UG principles provide a foundational understanding of unaccusative syntax, but typological features such as overt morphological marking in MA could shape learners’ perceptions of English structures.