Acquisition of reflexive verbs in Croatian as a second and foreign language

This study analyses the acquisition of different types of reflexive verbs in Croatian as a second and foreign language. Since there are a few different classifications of reflexive verbs in modern Croatian grammar, a brief overview of them is given in the first part of the study, followed by a description of different presentations of reflexive verbs found in course books for Croatian as a second language. The goal of this study is to determine possible differences in acquisition of reflexiveverbs according to their features. The hypothesis is that Croatian reflexive verbs which are accompanied with the reflexive enclitic pronoun se are easier to acquire than other types of reflexive verbs, such as those that are accompanied with se in some other function. The participants are Croatian foreign and second language learners attending individual classes. Their first language isEnglish. Their task in the study was to describe actions on pictures using simple subject --- verb construction. Some of the actions required using reflexive verbs with se as a pronoun, some using reflexive verbs from other groups, while some were to be described using non-reflexive verbs. The accuracy of the use of each type of reflexive verb was measured at three different points in time and the results for each subject were compared and discussed.