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Svårighetsgrad i svenska definita nominalfraser: En tvärsnittsstudie av L2-inlärare med ungerska som förstaspråk

Kulcsár, Fanni LU (2026) SPVR01 20261
Swedish as a Foreign Language
Master's Programme: Language and Linguistics
Abstract (Swedish)
The grammatical expression of definiteness varies considerably across the world’s languages. While the semantic concept of it is universal, its morphological realization differs significantly from language to language, making it particularly challenging for second language learners of Swedish. This thesis investigates the degree of difficulty of definite Swedish noun phrases for L2 learners, focusing on four constructions: double definiteness, possessive pronouns with adjectival modifiers, and the demonstrative pronouns den här and denna. Although all four are semantically definite, they differ in their morphological marking.
Data were collected through two instruments: a translation task and a grammaticality judgment task, preceded by a... (More)
The grammatical expression of definiteness varies considerably across the world’s languages. While the semantic concept of it is universal, its morphological realization differs significantly from language to language, making it particularly challenging for second language learners of Swedish. This thesis investigates the degree of difficulty of definite Swedish noun phrases for L2 learners, focusing on four constructions: double definiteness, possessive pronouns with adjectival modifiers, and the demonstrative pronouns den här and denna. Although all four are semantically definite, they differ in their morphological marking.
Data were collected through two instruments: a translation task and a grammaticality judgment task, preceded by a linguistic background survey assessing participants’ second language use. Twenty participants completed all tasks in person, while one participant completed the tasks online. The participants were divided into three proficiency groups. The results were analysed within an error-analytical framework and compared with both previous research and the participants’ learning materials to assess whether the introduction order of the materials aligned with the observed degree of difficulty. An implicational analysis was conducted within the double definiteness category to determine which morphemes imply the acquisition of others. Findings were consistent with prior research, with den här-constructions typically being an easy category while double definiteness constructions were the hardest. However, one noun phrase type particularly diverged from this pattern in comparison: the denna-constructions, which also differed
in how it was introduced across the examined compendiums. Cross-linguistic influence, the low frequency of denna in the collected data, and the participants’ homogeneous academic context were suggested as potential contributing factors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kulcsár, Fanni LU
supervisor
organization
course
SPVR01 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
second language acquisition, noun phrase, definiteness, Swedish, Hungarian, degree of difficulty, difficulty order, learning materials
language
Swedish
id
9250497
date added to LUP
2026-09-10 14:12:32
date last changed
2026-09-10 14:12:32
@misc{9250497,
  abstract     = {{The grammatical expression of definiteness varies considerably across the world’s languages. While the semantic concept of it is universal, its morphological realization differs significantly from language to language, making it particularly challenging for second language learners of Swedish. This thesis investigates the degree of difficulty of definite Swedish noun phrases for L2 learners, focusing on four constructions: double definiteness, possessive pronouns with adjectival modifiers, and the demonstrative pronouns den här and denna. Although all four are semantically definite, they differ in their morphological marking. 
Data were collected through two instruments: a translation task and a grammaticality judgment task, preceded by a linguistic background survey assessing participants’ second language use. Twenty participants completed all tasks in person, while one participant completed the tasks online. The participants were divided into three proficiency groups. The results were analysed within an error-analytical framework and compared with both previous research and the participants’ learning materials to assess whether the introduction order of the materials aligned with the observed degree of difficulty. An implicational analysis was conducted within the double definiteness category to determine which morphemes imply the acquisition of others. Findings were consistent with prior research, with den här-constructions typically being an easy category while double definiteness constructions were the hardest. However, one noun phrase type particularly diverged from this pattern in comparison: the denna-constructions, which also differed 
in how it was introduced across the examined compendiums. Cross-linguistic influence, the low frequency of denna in the collected data, and the participants’ homogeneous academic context were suggested as potential contributing factors.}},
  author       = {{Kulcsár, Fanni}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Svårighetsgrad i svenska definita nominalfraser: En tvärsnittsstudie av L2-inlärare med ungerska som förstaspråk}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}