Interpretation of English Reflexives by Child and Adult L2 Learners
Interpretation of English Reflexives by Child and Adult L2 Learners

Author: Amer Al Kafri

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2013-07-16

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1443850098

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This book casts new light on the debate of adult L2 learners’ access to Universal Grammar (UG) by comparing the performance of adult L2 learners with that of child L2 learners. The study in this book compares Arabic- and Chinese-speaking child and adult L2 learners’ acquisition of English reflexives, particularly concentrating on the differences between child and adult L2 learners in terms of their a) acquisition of the local binding of English reflexives, b) obedience of UG constraints on reflexives and c) knowledge of the syntactic differences between reflexives and pronouns. The outline of the book goes as follows: chapter one is a general introduction to the study. Chapter two discusses the linguistic assumptions and empirical evidence of Usage-Based-Approaches and Generative Approaches with regards to language acquisition, in general, and the interpretation of reflexives, in particular. Adopting Generative Grammar as a theoretical background for this study, age effects on access to UG in first and second language acquisition are discussed in chapter three. Chapter four presents different views on access to UG in second language acquisition and reviews previous studies on the acquisition of reflexives by L2 learners. Chapter five discusses the methodology of this study in terms of participants’ selection, materials used, procedures followed and data analysed. Chapter six presents the results of the study, and chapter seven discusses the results of the study with regards to previous studies and theories. The study shows that the grammar of adult L2 learners is constrained by UG and they can have full access to UG in advanced stages of L2 acquisition. The findings of this study will be of interest to L2 researchers in generative grammar, in general, and in second language acquisition, in particular.

Reflexive Pronouns: A Theoretical and Experimental Synthesis
Reflexive Pronouns: A Theoretical and Experimental Synthesis

Author: Darcy Sperlich

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-01-04

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 3030638758

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This book presents a comprehensive picture of reflexive pronouns from both a theoretical and experimental perspective, using the well-researched languages of English, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. In order to understand the data from varying theoretical perspectives, the book considers selected syntactic and pragmatic analyses based on their current importance in the field. The volume consequently introduces the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach, which is a novel theoretical synthesis incorporating a sentence and pragmatic processor that accounts for reflexive pronoun behaviour in these six languages. Moreover, in support of this model a vast array of experimental literature is considered, including first and second language acquisition, bilingual, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic and clinical studies. It is through both the intuitive and experimental data linguistic theorizing relies upon that brings out the strengths of the modelling adopted here, paving new avenues for future research. In sum, this volume unites a diverse array of the literature that currently sits largely divorced between the theoretical and experimental realms, and when put together a better understanding of reflexive pronouns under the auspices of the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach is forged.

Knowledge of Reflexives in a Second Language
Knowledge of Reflexives in a Second Language

Author: Margaret Thomas

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1993-10-28

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 9027281769

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This study addresses the debate about whether adult language learners have access to the principles and parameters of universal grammar in constructing the grammar of a second language. The data are based on two related experiments. The first examines the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns by native speakers of Japanese and of Spanish. The second experiment examines the interpretation of the Japanese reflexive zibun by native speakers of English and of Chinese. Three hypotheses are evaluated: (a) that UG is unavailable, and that processing strategies or other non-linguistic principles guide second language acquisition; (b) that UG is available only in the form in which it is instantiated in the learner's native language; (c) that UG is fully available, including the ability to re-set parameters to UG-sanctioned values not instantiated in the learner's native language. The results show that learners observe constraints defined by Manzini and Wexler's parameterized version of Principle A of the binding theory and support the proposal that adult learners have access to universal grammar. A final chapter reviews the experimental data in the light of recent accounts of cross-linguistic variation in the grammar of anaphors which reject parameterization of the binding principles in favor of a “movement to INFL” analysis.

Three Streams of Generative Language Acquisition Research
Three Streams of Generative Language Acquisition Research

Author: Tania Ionin

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2019-04-15

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9027262888

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This edited volume contains a representative sample of papers presented at the 7th meeting of the Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition – North America (GALANA-7) conference. The book features three streams of research (Variation in Input, First Language Acquisition, and Second Language Acquisition), each of which investigates the nature of language acquisition from the generative perspective. A unique feature of the GALANA-7 conference, and of this volume, is the bringing together of research on generative language acquisition and research on the role that cross-dialectal input variation plays in acquisition. This volume should be of interest to scholars and students of first language acquisition, second language acquisition, and input variation.

The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition
The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition

Author: Paul A. Malovrh

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13: 1119261627

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A comprehensive, current review of the research and approaches to advanced proficiency in second language acquisition The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition offers an overview of the most recent and scientific-based research concerning higher proficiency in second language acquisition (SLA). With contributions from an international team of experts in the field, the Handbook presents several theoretical approaches to SLA and offers an examination of advanced proficiency from the viewpoint of various contexts and dimensions of second language performance. The authors also review linguistic phenomena among advanced learners through the lens of phonology and grammar development. Comprehensive in scope, this book provides an overview of advanced proficiency grounded in socially-relevant domains of second language acquisition including discourse, reading, genre-based writing, and pragmatic competence. The authoritative volume brings together the theoretical accounts of advanced language use combined with solid empirical research. Includes contributions from an international collection of noted scholars in the field of second language acquisition Offers a variety of theoretical approaches to SLA Contains information on the most recent empirical research that contributes to an understanding of SLA Describes performance phenomena according to multiple approaches to SLA Written for scholars, students and linguists, The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition is a comprehensive text that offers the most recent developments in the study of advanced proficiency in the acquisition of a second language.

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics
The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics

Author: Tania Ionin

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-03-11

Total Pages: 586

ISBN-13: 1003823505

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This handbook provides innovative and comprehensive coverage of research on the second language acquisition (SLA) of morphosyntax, semantics, and the interface between the two. Organized by grammatical topic, the chapters are written by experts from formal and functional perspectives in the SLA of morphosyntax and semantics, providing in-depth yet accessible coverage of these areas. All chapters highlight the theoretical underpinnings of much work in SLA and their links to theoretical syntax and semantics; making comparisons to other populations, including child language acquirers, bilinguals, and heritage speakers (links to first language acquisition and bilingualism); dedicating a portion of each chapter to the research methods used to investigate the linguistic phenomenon in question (links to psycholinguistics and experimental linguistics); and, where relevant, including intervention studies on the phenomenon in question (links to applied linguistics). The volume will be indispensable to SLA researchers and students who work on any aspect of the SLA of morphosyntax or semantics. With its coverage of a variety of methodologies and comparisons to other populations (such as child language acquirers, early bilinguals, heritage speakers, and monolingual adults), the handbook is expected to also be of much interest to linguists who work in psycholinguistics, first language acquisition, and bilingualism.

Interlanguage and Learnability
Interlanguage and Learnability

Author: Virginia Yip

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9027224773

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This book investigates a set of structures characteristic of Chinese speakers' English interlanguage (CIL) in the light of grammatical theory and principles of learnability. As a study of CIL grammar, it illuminates both the theory of interlanguage syntax in general and some specific problems in the acquisition of English by Chinese L1 learners. A set of interrelated structures are investigated, including topicalization, passive, ergative, “tough movement” and existential constructions. The interlanguage is approached through the comparative syntax of the relevant L1 and L2 constructions, combining insights from Chomskyan Universal Grammar and typological research. CIL proves to be permeable to Chinese typological influence and bears topic-prominent characteristics, while showing effects of language universals. A parallel theme of the book is the question of learnability in the context of second language acquisition. The Subset and Uniqueness Principles are adapted to the L2 context so as to account for learning difficulty as well as successful acquisition. Under-generation and over-generation of the interlanguage and target constructions give rise to learnability problems which are formulated in terms of set relations at the level of individual constructions. The Uniqueness Principle is invoked to motivate preemption of overgenerated forms. The interaction of syntax and semantics plays a crucial role in the formulation and resolution of these learnability problems. General conceptual issues raised by the Subset and Uniqueness Principles are also discussed.

Language Acquisition in Diverse Linguistic, Social and Cognitive Circumstances
Language Acquisition in Diverse Linguistic, Social and Cognitive Circumstances

Author: Maria Garraffa

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2019-01-24

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 2889456897

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The language experience of children developing in linguistically diverse environments is subject to considerable variation both in terms of quantity and quality of language exposure. It is an open question how to investigate language exposure patterns and more important which factors are relevant for successful language learning. For example, children acquiring a minority language, including a signed language, are exposed to less variety of input than children acquiring a more global language. This is because they are living in a smaller linguistic community and with fewer occasions to use the language in everyday life. Despite this reduced input, most native signers are successful language learners. In contrast native language competence is not always achieved in signing deaf children with hearing parents or those with cochlear implants learning a spoken language. A similar outcome but with very different reasons has also been reported for hearing children with language impairment. In these populations acquisition of morphosyntactic aspects is developing atypically ending with an uncomplete linguistic repertoire. The circumstances of exposure during language development tend to differ in significant ways with respect to a large number of factors, such as, (i) length, quality and quantity of input, (ii) social status and attitudes toward the language, (iii) cognitive abilities required for language learning, and (iv) age of first exposure. Having early exposure to a range of different speakers is important in the acquisition of any language and may affect language proficiency. However, negative societal attitudes or a cognitive based disadvantage may create an unfavourable learning environment that prevents language learning from surfacing typically. This situation inevitably generates a different type of exposure for the child and consequently different language competence. In this Research Topic we intend to encourage the debate on social, linguistic and cognitive factors at play for designing an effective environment for language acquisition aiming at integrating linguistic variables coming from theoretical studies on language with environmental variables, such as, measures of language input or cognitive abilities on functions ancillary to language development.

Research Methodology in Second-Language Acquisition
Research Methodology in Second-Language Acquisition

Author: Elaine E. Tarone

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-05

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1135445419

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This volume addresses salient theoretical issues concerning the validity of research methods in second-language acquisition, and provides critical analysis of contextualized versus sentence-level production approaches. The contributors present their views of competence versus performance, the nature of language acquisition data, research design, the relevance of contextualized data collection and interpretation, and the desirability of a particularistic nomothetic theoretical paradigm versus more comprehensive consideration of multiple realities and complex influencing factors. This book presents varying and antithetical approaches to the issues, bringing together the thinking and approaches of leading researchers in language acquisition, language education, and sociolinguistics in an engaging debate of great currency in the field.

The Current State of Interlanguage
The Current State of Interlanguage

Author: Lynn Eubank

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 9027221529

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This state-of-the-art volume presents an outstanding collection of 22 studies on current issues facing research in second-language acquisition (SLA). The editors sought contributions for this volume from seasoned veterans of SLA like Lydia White and Susan Gass, from well-known researchers in linguistics and/or first-language acquisition like Haj Ross and Harald Clahsen, and from relative newcomers to the field like India Plough and Jean-Marc Dewaele. The topics covered range from the role of universals at various levels of second-language (L2) knowledge; the way that linguistic knowledge is represented by L2 learners; the changing nature of linguistic theory itself; and the definition of usage phenomena like style shifting and code switching. The introduction to "The Current State of Interlanguage" gives a concise yet detailed overview of research in the field over the past 10 years, and focuses on the present growing concensus on a number of issues that were at one point highly controversial.