INTERFERENCE OF L1 IN L2 PRODUCTION: THE CASE OF PREPOSITIONAL RELATIVE CLAUSES IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE AND ENGLISH

Abstract

Questions about relative clauses make up a widely prolific topic in linguistic studies. Since they bear some structural complexity, the topic yields several different studies on its structure and acquisition. The objective of the present paper is to compare the prepositional relative clauses in English and Brazilian Portuguese based on two compatible analyses, aiming at shedding light on the nature of some productions in English as a second language by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The comparison of their structures allowed us to analyze these productions in terms of L1 interference and to raise further related questions to be pursued in the future.