Universal Grammar and second language acquisition.

Universal Grammar and second language acquisition.

1. UG must be available to explain why L2 learners show UG effects in their ILGs.

   • UG appears not to be available, since by no means all L2 learners access new principles and parameters required by the L2.
     • There is partial access to UG in L2 acquisition.
       • Not clear if it's because UG can only be accessed via the L1.
   • Paradox.

2. L1 and L2 acquisition differences revisited.

   • Degree of success.
     • L1 learners almost invariably attain a grammar which is indistinguishable from other native speakers.
       • L2 learners are constrained by UG.
   • Mother tongue.
     • L2 learners necessarily know at least one language other tan the language being acquired.
     • Parameter theory.
   • Fossilization.
     • Happens in L2 but not L1.
       • Subset principle.
   • Input.
     • Negative evidence & explicit instruction
       • Effective in L2 acquisition only.
       • N.E. is superfluous (only in L1 acquisition).
   • Age.
     • UG is involved in child and adolescent L2 acquisition.
       • Adult L2 acquisition is still 'open'.
         • Adult problems might occur from the way UG interacts with other cognitive domains.

3. Modularity.

   • The language module.
     • Disagreements as to what aspects of cognition are modular, to what extent modules are independent of one another and how they interact.
     • Different cognitive modules.
     • Module interactions might differ from L1 and L2 acquisition.
   • Competition Model.
     • Suggests that UG is still available to adult learners but that problem-solving is also utilized in constructing a grammar for L2
     • Can account for age effects in L2 acquisition.
   • Language processing.
     • Comprehension.
       • Production.
         • Allows utterance building which convey whatever is wanted to convey.
       • Linguistic input.
         • Parsing.
   • Pragmatics/Discourse.
     • Determine which out of a range of possible structures allowed by the grammar of a language is actually realized in a particular context.
   • Communicative competence.
     • Linguistic and other kinds of knowledge that may influence one's language behaviour, wheter as a language learner or native speaker.
       • Based and studied through a variety of domains and theories.

4. UG is still accesible in L2 acquisition.

   • Properties such as Subjacency, the ECP & the Theta Criterion are highly abstract and complex and aren't teached or learned.