Direct Object Acquisition in the Speech of Adult L2 Russian Learners

This article investigates direct object acquisition by adult learners of Russian as a second language (L2). Students of different proficiency levels (A1-C1) took part in the experimental study and their data was compared with that produced by the L1 speakers. It found that verb valency, as well as learner proficiency levels, significantly impact this process. Verbs with 5–6 object types demonstrate more differences between L1 and L2 groups than verbs with 3–4 object types, indicating a link between verb valency and acquisition difficulty. Object types used by low proficiency level speakers turned out not to be always the most common or frequent in standard Russian, as the most common types do not equal the simplest ones. The distribution of direct object types was only partly affected by the proficiency level. L2 learners of almost any level appeared to be familiar with different direct object types. It claims that non-accusative, peripheral object types, like infinitives, do not depend on the language proficiency level, regardless of their frequency.