› › Universal Grammar And Knowledge Of Reflexives In A Second Language

Knowledge of Reflexives in a Second Language

Author : Margaret Ann Thomas

Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing

Page : 245 pages

File Size : 40,80 MB

Release : 1993-01-01

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 9027224692

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Book Description

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.



Universal Grammar in Second-Language Acquisition

Author : Margaret Thomas

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 271 pages

File Size : 35,15 MB

Release : 2004-07-31

Category : Foreign Language Study

ISBN : 1134388543

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Book Description

This book discusses how scholars in the west have conceived that human languages share important properties, and how westerners have understood the nature of second or foreign language learning.





Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition

Author : Lydia White

Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing

Page : 211 pages

File Size : 29,58 MB

Release : 1989-01-01

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 9027224617

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Book Description

This authoritative textbook provides an overview and analysis of current second language acquisition research conducted within the generative linguistic framework. Lydia White argues that second language acquisition is constrained by principles and parameters of universal grammar.



Point Counterpoint

Author : Lynn Eubank

Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing

Page : 450 pages

File Size : 30,98 MB

Release : 1991-01-01

Category : Psychology

ISBN : 9027224641

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Book Description

Point Counterpoint offers a series of papers and replies originally presented at a special session of the Second Language Research Forum, UCLA, March 1989. The focus of the papers is primarily the role of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition, though the agenda also includes discussion of other fundamental questions, viz., the explanatory potential of linguistic theory in native-language development. It may come as no surprise that the contributors and their respondents often present very different perspectives on the issues, for most of the authors were known in advance to hold contrasting points of view. Contributors (c) and Respondents (r) are: Wolfgang Klein (c)/Nina Hyams (r); Sascha Felix (c)/Jacquelyn Schachter (r); Suzanne Flynn & Sharon Manuel (c)/David Birdsong (r); Lydia White (c)/Robert Bley-Vroman (r); Peter Jordens (c)/Lynn Eubank (r); Jurgen Meisel (c)/Bonnie Schwartz (r); Sharon Hilles (c)/William O'Grady (r); Daniel Finer (c)/Margaret Thomas (r); Usha Lakshmanan (c)/Nina Hymans & Ken Safir (r).



Interpretation of English Reflexives by Child and Adult L2 Learners

Author : Amer Al Kafri

Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Page : 215 pages

File Size : 26,80 MB

Release : 2013-07-16

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 1443850098

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Book Description

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.





The role of universal grammar in second language acquisition

Author : Henner Kaatz

Publisher : GRIN Verlag

Page : 18 pages

File Size : 45,8 MB

Release : 2008-05-26

Category : Foreign Language Study

ISBN : 3638052680

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Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, Technical University of Braunschweig (Fachbereich für Geistes- und Erziehungswissenschaft, Englisches Seminar), course: Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: All students in the seminar “Language Acquisition” (SS 07) are obligated to write a term paper about an issue which fits into the course subject matter. In this case, the topic “The Role of Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition” was chosen. The seminar deals with both, first and second language acquisition. The main focus lies on German and English. However, the course is not supposed to deal with a contrastive view but rather a descriptive way of analyzing language acquisition in general and with a specific concentration on English. The following term paper, primarily, deals with second language acquisition and the Role of Universal Grammar (UG) in the course of the on-going acquisition process. The UG approach is an issue which is often discussed within the linguistic science and the opinions about it are highly diverged. Not only in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), but also in First Language Acquisition the Universal Grammar approach is often seen as not verified, or on the other hand, as opposed to, it is viewed as the only solution to the mysterious question of language acquisition. This term paper defines the essential different sights of UG and its role in the process of SLA. The main question of the paper is:” Does UG plays a role in SLA and if so, what kind of role?” Another issue is whether only UG influences SLA or the first language governs acquisition of a second language. Some researchers even state that there is no UG in language acquisition and others say that UG is ‘dead’ in SLA. There are a bunch of opinions on this topic and all of them show evidence, more or less persuasive. It is not possible to explain all the different aspects of research and all the data and experiments concerning UG and SLA in this term paper. Nevertheless, this paper describes some of the essential views on how UG plays a role in SLA and additionally what kind of influence first language (L1) can possibly have on the process of SLA. Considering L1, UG and L2 is necessary because L1 acquisition is definitely different from SLA. Bilingual aspects are not considered in this context. To describe and define the most important expressions, the paper starts with definitions, before the so-called Logical Problem of Language Acquisition and the differences between L1 and L2 acquisition are portrayed. The main part is about the Role of L1 (transfer) and the access to UG in SLA.



Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition

Author : Julia Niehaus

Publisher : GRIN Verlag

Page : 15 pages

File Size : 35,96 MB

Release : 2020-05-06

Category : Literary Collections

ISBN : 3346161595

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Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Duisburg-Essen, language: English, abstract: The topic of this term paper is from high relevance when it comes to the human mind in general, but it has a special importance for those who are trying to start a career as Second Language teachers because Chomsky’s Universal Grammar Theory influenced the whole field of linguistic studies and Language Acquisition tremendously. Future teachers need to be aware of these perceptions to be successful at teaching languages. The beginning of this paper is therefore going to be discussing what Universal Grammar after Chomsky consists of in general and what it describes. This part is going to be functioning as an overview that will help to comprehend the following subchapter, which will be dealing with one part of Chomsky’s Government/ Binding Theory, the principles and parameters. Thereafter, a discourse on First Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar is going to be portrayed, since Universal Grammar is usually linked to First Language Acquisition and will help to understand the coherence of the previously discussed matters of Universal Grammar. The goal of these first few chapters is to create a transition to the main topic of the paper by providing some important background information of Chomsky’s studies and theories.



Wild or possible? How different approaches to reflexive binding explain the nature of interlanguage grammars in Second Language Acquisition

Author : Dirk Steines

Publisher : GRIN Verlag

Page : 22 pages

File Size : 11,7 MB

Release : 2007-05-26

Category : Literary Collections

ISBN : 3638744698

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Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar, language: English, abstract: Within the discourse of generative grammar it has been proposed that Universal Grammar (UG) can be seen as an innate structure that governs the course of learning a language. The domain of UG is often also referred to as the “principles and parameters framework”. While principles can be seen as a set of rules (e.g. the linearity of language) that are applicable for all natural languages, certain parameters make up and have to be set according to different languages. As there is not much disagreement on the role of UG for the acquisition of a first language (L1), many researchers have discussed the question if and how UG constrains second language acquisition (L2A). A large amount of research has been conducted within the field of the acquisition of reflexives in L2. Earlier approaches explained the acquisition of reflexives in L2A as a resetting of the Governing Category Parameter (GCP). Other approaches accounted the cross-linguistic variation in interpreting domain and orientation of anaphors to different categories of anaphors, namely X0 or head reflexives and XP or phrasal reflexives. It was then hypothesized that interpretation of these reflexives in L2A can either be the consequence of movement in Logical Form or a result of parameter settings regarding the agreement (AGR) parameter resulting in a relativized SUBJECT. The aim of this paper is to give a short overview of the above mentioned approaches on the domain of reflexivity acquisition by presenting one study for each approach. The results of the different studies will be discussed with emphasis to the question to what extent they show evidence for the non-/availability of UG in L2A. Based on this, a suggestion is stated, that the relativized SUBJECT approach is most sufficient to explain UG-availability in terms of the Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis.