為了解釋第二語言(second language (L2))學習者在學習目標語言的語法詞素方面的困難，Jiang et al. (2011)提出了形態一致性假設(Morphological Congruency Hypothesis)。該假設指出，二語學習者之所以達不到與母語者類似的表現，是由於不能成功激活在學習者的第一語言(first language (L1))中本身沒有的L2 詞素。儘管Jiang 及其同事對複數詞素（-s）的研究都支持了這一假設(Jiang, 2004, 2007; Jiang et al., 2011; Jiang et al., 2017)，但其他研究者也有一些相互矛盾的發現(Wen et al., 2010; Song, 2015; Choi & Ionin, 2021)。此外，以往的研究主要集中在復數詞素上。爲了檢驗形態一致性假設，需要進一步研究具有不同特徵的其他類型的詞素。本研究旨在透過探究母語漢語者學習英語時態詞素的表現，來檢驗這一假設。通過回顧先前的研究文獻，此研究設計加入了對語言熟練程度和實驗方法的考量。本研究執行了離線語法判斷任務(offline grammaticality judgment task)和在線自我控制閱讀速度任務(online self-paced reading task)這兩個實驗，實驗材料是包含正確與錯誤的簡單過去式詞素(-ed)和第三人稱單數現在式詞素(-s)的句子。
離線語法判斷任務調查參與者對兩個時態詞素的語法知識，而在線自我控制閱讀速度任務調查參與者涉及相同兩個時態詞素的句子的線上即時表現。我們招募了 23 名母語英語人士和 30 名母語漢語的英語學習者參與實驗。離線語法判斷任務的結果顯示，母語英語者和母語漢語的英語學習者展現出這兩個時態詞素的離綫語法知識，但有趣的是，母語者對缺失第三人稱單數現在時詞素(-s)的不合語法的句子的準確率相對較低。在自我控制閱讀速度任務的結果表明，母語漢語的英語學習者在實時閲讀中對簡單過去式詞素(-ed)和第三人稱單數現在式詞素(-s)的錯誤不敏感，而母語者對簡單過去式詞素(-ed)的錯誤表現出敏感，但對第三人稱單數現在式詞素(-s)的錯誤不敏感。過去式詞素(-ed)的資料結果支持形態一致性假設。然而，第三人稱單數現在式詞素(-s)的資料結果呈現了有趣的模式，這表明形態一致性假設可能不適用於所有語法詞素。
本研究對形態一致性假設的檢驗以及對理解二語英語中不同時態詞素的習得和處理做出了重要貢獻。同時，這項研究也有一些研究限制和有趣的發現，需要對與假設相關的問題進行更多調查。我們建議未來的研究可以直接比較不同母語背景的英語學習者。我們也還建議未來的研究可以系統地檢驗形態一致性假設，更多地關注具有不同特徵的詞素，以探索其理論適用性。

To explain the second language (L2) learners’ difficulty in acquiring grammatical morphemes of the target language, Jiang et al. (2011) proposed the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis, which states that non-nativelike L2 performance by learners is due to problems in activating L2 grammatical morphemes that are not marked in learners’ first language (L1). Although Jiang and colleagues’ studies on the plural marker (-s) cohesively support this hypothesis (Jiang, 2004, 2007; Jiang et al., 2011; Jiang et al., 2017), other researchers have shown some conflicting and mixed findings (Wen et al., 2010; Song, 2015; Choi & Ionin, 2021). Besides, the previous studies mainly focused on the plural marker. It calls for further investigation on other types of morphemes with different features to test the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis. The present study aims to test this hypothesis by examining advanced L1-Mandarin learners’ performance of tense morphemes in L2 English. By reviewing the previous studies related to this hypothesis, the proficiency level and methodological issues were taken into consideration in our study design. We conducted an offline grammaticality judgment task and an online self-paced reading task on sentences involving (mis)matched simple past tense morpheme (-ed) and third-person singular (3rd/SG) present tense morpheme (-s).
The offline grammaticality judgment task investigated the participants’ grammatical knowledge of the two tense morphemes, while the online self-paced reading task investigated the real-time performance of the sentences involving the same two tense morphemes. Twenty-three L1-English native speakers and thirty advanced L1-Mandarin/L2-English learners were recruited to participate in the offline and online experiments. The offline grammaticality judgment task results revealed that the native speakers and the L1-Mandarin/L2-English learners have the offline grammatical knowledge of these two tense morphemes, except that the native speakers interestingly showed a relatively lower accuracy rate for the ungrammatical sentences involving the omission of the 3rd/SG present tense morpheme (-s). The online self-paced reading task results suggested that the L1-Mandarin/L2-English learners did not show sensitivity to the errors of the past tense morpheme (-ed) and the 3rd/SG present tense morpheme (-s) online, while the native speakers showed sensitivity to the errors of the past tense morpheme (-ed) but not the errors of the 3rd/SG present tense morpheme (-s). The results of the past tense conditions support the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis. However, the results of the present tense conditions yield interesting patterns, suggesting that the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis may not be applicable indiscriminately to all grammatical morphemes.
The present study makes important contributions to the testing of the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis as well as the understanding of the acquisition and processing of different tense morphemes in L2 English. While making important contributions, this study also has some limitations and interesting findings that call for more investigation on the issues related to the hypothesis. We advise that future studies can improve the limitation by comparing L2-English learners of different L1 backgrounds directly. We also advise that future studies can systematically examine the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis with more focus on the morphemes with different features to explore its theoretical accountability.

List of Tables iii
List of Figures iv
摘要 v
Abstract vii
Acknowledgment ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research Background and Motivation 1
1.2 The Present Study and Research Purposes 2
1.3 Overview of the Thesis 4
Chapter 2 Literature Review 5
2.1 The Origin of the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis 5
2.2 The Findings Against the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis 13
2.3 Tense in English and Mandarin Chinese 18
2.4 Previous Studies on Acquisition of L2 English Tense 23
2.4.1 The Acquisition of Simple Past Tense in L2 English 23
2.4.2 The Acquisition of Simple Present Tense in L2 English 26
2.5 Online Processing of Tense Morphemes in L2 English and Morphological Congruency Hypothesis 28
2.6 Summary and Research Questions 33
Chapter 3 Methodology 35
3.1 Participants 35
3.2 Materials and Test Design 37
3.3 Procedure 41
3.4 Data Trimming and Analysis 43
Chapter 4 Results 45
4.1 Results of the Offline Grammaticality Judgment Task 45
4.2 Results of the Online Self-paced Reading Task 49
4.2.1 Comprehension Accuracy 49
4.2.2 RT Results 51
4.3 Summary of the Results 59
Chapter 5 Discussion 60
5.1 Discussion on Offline Judgement Results (RQ1) 61
5.2 Discussion on Online Results (RQ2) 64
5.3 Discussion on the Difference Between the Two Tense Morphemes (RQ3) 69
Chapter 6 Conclusion 72
6.1 Review and Significance of the Study 72
6.2 Limitations of the Study and Future Studies 73
References 75
Appendix A. CEFR Chart 78
Appendix B. Language Questionnaire for L2-English Learners 79
Appendix C. Language Profile Questionnaire for English Native Speakers 81
Appendix D. The Test Paradigm for the Self-paced Reading Task 82

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