Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article on:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
by S. Epstein, S. Flynn and G. Martohardjono
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SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THEORETICAL AND
EXPERIMENTAL ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH
Samuel David Epstein
(Harvard University),
Suzanne Flynn
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology),
Gita Martohardjono
(Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY)
KEYWORDS: Language acquisition, Second Language learning,
Functional categories, Universal Grammar, Critical periods,
Parameter setting, Morphology, Psycholinguistics, Problem
solving, Competence vs. performance, Innateness,
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.
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