1. Introduction

Explored the importance of acquiring second language tense morphological markers, introduced the affective aspect hypothesis and its empirical research among learners from different native language backgrounds. It points out the possible differences between native Chinese and German speakers in English language acquisition, and emphasizes the role of target language input and native language influence in second language acquisition. Using the method of structural collocation analysis, this study aims to compare the characteristics of Chinese and German native speakers with English native speakers in the use of physical language in English, in order to reveal the cognitive mechanisms of second language learners' physical acquisition.

2. Research background

Explored the study of English language acquisition by Chinese and German native speakers based on structural collocation analysis. The affective aspect hypothesis suggests that there is a selective relationship between the use of body markers and the internal affective aspect types of verbs in the early language development of English speaking children. Research has found that second language learners' acquisition patterns of English tense and aspect markers are similar to those of native language children. However, the differences in English language acquisition between native Chinese and German speakers are not yet clear. Existing research has mostly focused on written language materials, with relatively insufficient research on oral language materials. This article adopts the construction collocation analysis method, based on the spoken language corpora of Chinese, German native speakers, and English native speakers, to examine the influence of target language input and native language body markers on the English production of Chinese and German native speakers. The research questions include: 1) the use of English continuous tense by Chinese and German native language learners and English native speakers, and their consistency with the situational tense hypothesis; 2) The intensity of collocation between different types of verbs and the English continuous tense reflects the cognitive characteristics of Chinese and German native language learners in the use of the English continuous tense.

3. Research methods

This paper introduces a method for studying the physical acquisition of English by native Chinese and German speakers based on structural collocation analysis. The research corpus is sourced from the LINDSEI and LOCNEC oral corpora, including Chinese, German native speakers, and English native speakers. The corpus was annotated with Tree Tagger software syntax, searched with AntConc software, and manually screened to extract constructs containing body markers. Use PowerGREP software to remove grammar marks and noise, import sentences into Excel for filtering, and delete sentences that do not meet the criteria. Classify verbs with body markers into four categories based on their situational types, independently annotated by three native English speakers, with a reliability rate of 97%. Using the construction collocation analysis method to analyze the corpus, data such as total word frequency, construction frequency, and collocation morpheme frequency were collected. The chi square test was used to compare the differences in the use of construction among different native speakers, and the collocation strength was verified using Coll.analysis and R software.

4. Research results

By analyzing the usage of English constructions in three corpora, it was found that native Chinese and German speakers had significantly lower usage frequencies than native English speakers, and native Chinese speakers used them even less. In terms of verb situation types, activity verbs are used the most frequently, followed by completion verbs, achievement verbs, and state verbs, which is consistent with the prediction of the situation hypothesis. However, the use of state verbs in progressive constructions does not conform to the hypothesis. The analysis of collocation intensity shows that activity verbs have the highest collocation intensity with the continuous construction, while state verbs have the lowest collocation intensity. There is no significant difference in the use of activity verbs between Chinese and German native English learners and native English speakers, but there is a significant difference in the use of achievement verbs and state verbs.

5. Discussion

We discussed the significant differences in the use of English construction between learners with Chinese and German native language backgrounds and native English speakers. Chinese native speakers have a low frequency of use, possibly due to the low selectivity and grammaticalization of body marking in Chinese, while German native speakers also have a low frequency of use, but slightly higher than Chinese native speakers, possibly because German lacks body marking and teachers have strengthened teaching input. Learners' temporal and physical acquisition is influenced by the input of their mother tongue and target language. The acquisition of construction begins with active verbs and gradually expands to other verbs. Learners learn the same collocation features as the target language by analyzing its language usage. The cognitive characteristics of learners with Chinese and German native language backgrounds in using English structures conform to the use based language acquisition perspective, and target language input plays an important role in learners discovering language patterns and forming grammar. Learners extract regular forms, concretize and categorize prototype features through exposure to language examples, solidify them into symbolic structures, and promote acquisition. The frequency of target language input is crucial for language construction. The use of non prototype constructions is greatly influenced by the native language, and Chinese native speakers have better learning effects on final verbs with high input frequency than verbs with low input frequency. There is no significant difference in usage between native German speakers and native English speakers, possibly due to the close relationship between German and English and the teacher's emphasis on target language input.

6. Conclusion

Summarized the research on Chinese and German native speakers' physical acquisition of English based on the construction collocation analysis method, and found the cognitive characteristics of learners with different native language backgrounds in physical output. The research results support the affective aspect hypothesis, but also reveal the use of state verbs in the progressive aspect. The analysis of verb situation types and the strength of collocation in the second language construction shows that the target language input and native language features have a significant impact on the acquisition of the second language construction. In teaching practice, emphasis should be placed on implicit learning based on examples, strengthening target language input, while paying attention to the differences in tense and aspect markers between the mother tongue and the target language, and promoting the acquisition of non prototype constructions through explicit teaching.