Acquisition of English Prenominal and Postnominal Genitives

This study examined the acquisition of prenominal and postnominal genitives by Iranian EFL learners. Two variables were considered: possessive categories and language proficiency. We considered the influence of possessive categories such as lexical modifier, semantic relationship, and weight and syntactic complexity on genitive alternations by Iranian EFL learners. Also, we examined whether the learners' different levels of language proficiency have any effect on the acquisition of the prenominal and postnominal genitives. To do this, 120 male and female students at BA and MA levels with ages between 23 and 28 were employed. After administering a proficiency test, they were divided into two groups: high (58 students) and low (62 students). The results indicated that possessive categories including lexical modifier, semantic relationship and weight and syntactic complexity improved the students’ acquisition. Also, there existed a positive correlation between the students’ mastery level in English and the acquisition of prenominal and postnominal genitives.