Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar

334 Pages·2005·2.13 MB·English

by  Lydia White

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SecondLanguageAcquisitionandUniversalGrammar
Thisauthoritativetextbookprovidesanoverviewandanalysisofcurrentsecond
languageacquisitionresearchconductedwithinthegenerativelinguisticframe-
work.LydiaWhitearguesthatsecondlanguageacquisitionisconstrainedbyprin-
ciplesandparametersofUniversalGrammar.Thebookfocusesoncharacterizing
andexplainingtheunderlyinglinguisticcompetenceofsecondlanguagelearners
intermsofthesecontraints.TheoriesastotheroleofUniversalGrammarandthe
extentofmother-tongueinfluencearepresentedanddiscussed,withparticular
considerationgiventothenatureoftheinterlanguagegrammaratdifferentpoints
indevelopment,fromtheinitialstatetotheultimateattainment.Throughoutthe
book, hypotheses maintaining that second language grammars are constrained
byuniversalprinciplesarecontrastedwithclaimsthatUniversalGrammarisnot
implicated;relevantempiricalresearchispresentedfrombothsidesofthedebate.
Thistextbookisessentialreadingforthosestudyingsecondlanguageacquisition
fromalinguisticperspective.
lydia white isProfessorofLinguisticsatMcGillUniversity,Montre´al,and
ChairoftheLinguisticsDepartment.Sheisinternationallyknownasaleading
expertonsecondlanguageacquisition.SheistheauthorofUniversalGrammar
andSecondLanguageAcquisition(JohnBenjamins,1989)andpublishesregu-
larlyinmajorinternationaljournalsonlanguageacquisition.

CAMBRIDGE TEXTBOOKS IN LINGUISTICS
Generaleditors:p. austin, j. bresnan, b. comrie,
w. dressler, c. j. ewen, r. huddleston, r. lass,
d. lightfoot, i. roberts, s. romaine, n. v. smith,
n. vincent
Second Language Acquisition
and Universal Grammar
Inthisseries
p. h. matthewsMorphologySecondedition
b. comrieAspect
r. m. kempsonSemanticTheory
t. bynonHistoricalLinguistics
j. allwood, l.-g. andersonando¨. dahlLogicinLinguistics
d. b. fryThePhysicsofSpeech
r. a. hudsonSociolinguisticsSecondedition
a. j. elliottChildLanguage
p. h. matthewsSyntax
a. radfordTransformationalSyntax
l. bauerEnglishWord-Formation
s. c. levinsonPragmatics
g. brownandg. yuleDiscourseAnalysis
r. huddlestonIntroductiontotheGrammarofEnglish
r. lassPhonology
b. comrieTense
w. kleinSecondLanguageAcquisition
a. j. woods, p. fletcheranda. hughesStatisticsinLanguageStudies
d. a. cruseLexicalSemantics
a. radfordTransformationalGrammar
m. garmanPsycholinguistics
w. croftTypologyandUniversals
g. g. corbettGender
h. j. giegerichEnglishPhonology
r. cannFormalSemantics
p. j. hopperande. c. traugottGrammaticalization
j. laverPrinciplesofPhonetics
f. r. palmerGrammaticalRolesandRelations
m. a. jonesFoundationsofFrenchSyntax
a. radfordSyntacticTheoryandtheStructureofEnglish:AMinimalist
Approach
r. d. van valin, jr,andr. j. lapollaSyntax:Structure,Meaning
andFunction
a. durantiLinguisticAnthropology
a. cruttendenIntonationSecondedition
j. k. chambersandp. trudgillDialectologySecondedition
c. lyonsDefiniteness
r. kagerOptimalityTheory
j. a. holmAnIntroductiontoPidginsandCreoles
c. g. corbettNumber
c. j. ewenandh. van der hulstThePhonologicalStructureofWords
f. r. palmerMoodandModalitySecondedition
b. j. blakeCaseSecondedition
e. gussmanPhonology:AnalysisandTheory
m. yipTone
w. croftTypologyandUniversals
f. coulmasWritingSystems:AnIntroductiontoTheirLinguisticAnalysis
l. whiteSecondLanguageAcquisitionandUniversalGrammar
Second Language
Acquisition and
Universal Grammar
LYDIA WHITE
McGillUniversity,Montre´al
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521792059
© Lydia White 2003
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2003
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Contents
Preface pagexi
Abbreviations xiv
1. UniversalGrammarandlanguageacquisition 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 UniversalGrammarinL1acquisition 2
1.3 WhyUG?Thelogicalproblemoflanguageacquisition 3
1.3.1 Anexample:theOvertPronounConstraint 4
1.4 ParametersofUniversalGrammar 9
1.4.1 Anexample:featurestrengthandmovement 10
1.5 UGaccess:earlierapproachestoUGandSLA 15
1.6 Methodologicalissues:‘tapping’linguisticcompetence 17
1.7 Conclusion 19
Topicsfordiscussion 19
Suggestionsforadditionalreading 20
2. PrinciplesofUniversalGrammarinL2acquisition 22
2.1 UGandthelogicalproblemofL2acquisition 22
2.1.1 TheOvertPronounConstraintinL2 23
2.1.2 ProcessversusresultnominalsinL2French 30
2.1.3 PrinciplesofUGinearlyinterlanguagegrammars:
theECP 35
2.2 ThelogicalproblemofL2revisited:alternativeaccounts 39
2.2.1 L2input 40
2.2.2 TheL1grammarasthesourceofknowledgeofUG
principles 41
2.3 ProblemsfortheUGclaim:wildinterlanguagegrammars 42
2.3.1 Reflexivebinding 43
2.3.2 Nullprep 51
2.4 Methodologicalissues 54
2.5 Conclusion 56
Topicsfordiscussion 57
Suggestionsforadditionalreading 57
vii
viii Contents
3. Theinitialstate 58
3.1 Whatistheinitialstate? 58
3.2 Agrammarastheinitialstate 61
3.2.1 TheFullTransferFullAccess
Hypothesis 61
3.2.2 TheMinimalTreesHypothesis 68
3.2.3 TheValuelessFeaturesHypothesis 78
3.3 UGastheinitialstate 87
3.3.1 TheInitialHypothesisofSyntax 87
3.3.2 FullAccess(withoutTransfer) 88
3.4 Assessinginitial-statehypotheses:similaritiesand
differences 95
3.5 Interlanguagerepresentation:defectiveornot? 96
3.6 Conclusion 98
Topicsfordiscussion 98
Suggestionsforadditionalreading 99
4. Grammarsbeyondtheinitialstate:parametersand
functionalcategories 100
4.1 Introduction 100
4.2 Parametersininterlanguagegrammars 100
4.3 Globalimpairment 102
4.3.1 BreakdownoftheNullSubjectParameter 102
4.3.2 Breakdownofaword-orderparameter 108
4.3.3 Globalimpairment:assessment 113
4.4 Localimpairment 114
4.4.1 Localimpairment:evidence 115
4.4.2 LocalImpairment:assessment 117
4.5 UG-constrainedgrammarsandparametersetting 118
4.6 Noparameterresetting 119
4.6.1 Noparametersetting:evidence 120
4.6.2 Noparameterresetting:assessment 125
4.7 Parametersettingandresetting 127
4.7.1 TheVerbMovementParameter:acquiringnewfeature
strength 128
4.7.2 Nominalprojections:featurestrength,featuresand
categories 132
4.8 SettingsofneitherL1norL2 141
4.8.1 SettingsofneitherL1norL2:reflexives 143
4.8.2 SettingsofneitherL1norL2:casechecking 146
4.9 Parametersettingandresetting:assessment 148
4.10 Conclusion 149
Topicsfordiscussion 149
Suggestionsforadditionalreading 150