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Second language acquisition: Theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research

Epstein, Samuel David, Flynn, Suzanne and Martohardjono, Gita (1996) Second language acquisition: Theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research.

Short Abstract:

To what extent, if any, does Universal Grammar (UG) constrain second language (L2) acquisition? This is not only an empirical question, but one which is currently investigable. In this context, L2 acquisition is emerging as an important new domain of psycholinguistic research. Three logical possibilities have been articulated regarding the role of UG in L2 acquisition: The first is the no-access hypothesis that no aspect of UG is available to the L2 learner. The second is the partial access hypothesis that only L1-instantiated principles and L1-instantiated parameter-values of UG are available to the learner. According to the third, called the full access hypothesis, UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition. We argue that there is no compelling evidence to support either of the first two hypotheses. Moreover, we provide evidence concerning functional categories in L2 acquisition consistent with the claim that UG is fully available to the L2 learner. We try to clarify some of the currently unclear theoretical issues connected with positing UG as an explanatory theory of second language acquisition (SLA) and we investigate certain crucial methodological questions involved in experimentally testing the role of UG in SLA. We close with a set of experimental results of our own.

Long Abstract:

To what extent, if any, does Universal Grammar (UG) constrain second language (L2) acquisition? This is not only an empirical question, but one which is currently investigable. In this context, L2 acquisition is emerging as an important new domain of psycholinguistic research. Three logical possibilities have been articulated regarding the role of UG in L2 acquisition: The first is the no-access hypothesis that no aspect of UG is available to the L2 learner. The second is the partial access hypothesis that only L1-instantiated principles and L1-instantiated parameter-values of UG are available to the learner. According to the third, called the full access hypothesis, UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition. We argue that there is no compelling evidence to support either of the first two hypotheses. Moreover, we provide evidence concerning functional categories in L2 acquisition consistent with the claim that UG is fully available to the L2 learner. We try to clarify some of the currently unclear theoretical issues connected with positing UG as an explanatory theory of second language acquisition (SLA) and we investigate certain crucial methodological questions involved in experimentally testing the role of UG in SLA. We close with a set of experimental results of our own.

Keywords:	Language acquisition, Second Language learning, Functional categories, Universal Grammar, Critical periods, Parameter setting, Morphology, Psycholinguistics, Stages, Problem solving, Competence vs. performance, Innateness.
Subjects:	Psychology: Cognitive Psychology Linguistics: Learnability Linguistics: Morphology Linguistics: Phonology Linguistics: Pragmatics Linguistics: Semantics Linguistics: Syntax Psychology: Psycholinguistics
ID code:	bbs00000562
Deposited by:	Samuel D Epstein on 02 May 2001