Cover not available
Part of
Bilingual Cognition and Language: The state of the science across its subfields
Edited by David Miller, Fatih Bayram, Jason Rothman and Ludovica Serratrice
[Studies in Bilingualism 54] 2018
► pp. 57–78

Chapter 4
Formal linguistics and second language acquisition

| McGill University

This paper motivates formal linguistic approaches to second language (L2) acquisition, particularly approaches grounded in generative grammar, and provides an overview of how such approaches have developed over time. The role of the mother tongue grammar and Universal Grammar (UG) in shaping the acquisition of linguistic representations is examined, starting with early debates on the effects of principles and parameters of UG in L2 (the UG access debate). This focus has been replaced with more nuanced analyses of the nature of interlanguage representations, for example, the nature of the initial state, the status of functional categories and features in L2 grammars, as well as potential problems at the linguistic interfaces. Discrepancies between underlying L2 competence and L2 performance are discussed, focusing on research that addresses the question of how representations are accessed and used in real time processing.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.What is formal linguistics?
  • 3.Motivation for the formal linguistic approach
  • 4.Research under the formal approach
    • Phase 1: Focus on principles and parameters
    • Phase 2: Focus on representation
  • 5.Beyond representation: Accessing and using the interlanguage representation
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 March 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.54.04whi
References
Archibald, J.
(1992) Transfer of L1 parameter-settings: Some empirical evidence from Polish metrics. Canadian Journal of Linguistics, 37, 301–339.Google Scholar
Belikova, A., & White, L.
(2009) Evidence for the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis or not? Island constraints revisited. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31, 1–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bley-Vroman, R.
(1989) What is the logical problem of foreign language learning? In S. Gass, & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition (pp. 41–68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, C.
(1998) The role of the L1 grammar in the L2 acquisition of segmental structure. Second Language Research, 14, 136–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carroll, S.
(2001) Input and evidence: The raw material of second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Autonomous induction theory. In B. VanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (1st ed., 155–173). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Chomsky, N.
(1981) Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
(1998) Minimalist inquiries: The framework. MIT Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 15.Google Scholar
Clahsen, H., & Muysken, P.
(1986) The availability of universal grammar to adult and child learners: A study of the acquisition of German word order. Second Language Research, 2, 93–119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clahsen, H., & Felser, C.
(2006) Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 3–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cummins, R.
(1983) The nature of psychological explanation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
de Bot, K.
(2015) A history of applied linguistics: From 1980 to the present. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dekydtspotter, L., & Hathorn, J.
(2005)  Quelque chose … de remarquable in English-French acquisition: Mandatory, informationally encapsulated computations in second language interpretation. Second Language Research, 21, 291–323. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R.
(2009) Cognitive-psychological processes in second language learning. In M. Long & C. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 119–138). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doughty, C., & Long, M.
(2003) The handbook of second language acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dresher, E., & Kaye, J.
(1990) A computational learning model for metrical phonology. Cognition, 34,137–195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eckman, F.
(2007) Universals, innateness and explanation in second language acquisition. In M. Penke & A. Rosenbach (Eds.), What counts as evidence in linguistics: The case of innateness (pp. 217–239). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N., & Wulff, S.
(2015) Usage-based approaches to SLA. In B. VanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (2nd ed., 75–93). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Finer, D., & Broselow, E.
(1986) Second language acquisition of reflexive-binding. In S. Berman, J.-W. Choe, & J. McDonough (Eds.), Proceedings of NELS 16 (pp. 154–168). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Franceschina, F.
(2001) Morphological or syntactic deficits in near-native speakers? An assessment of some current proposals. Second Language Research, 17, 213–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goad, H., & White, L.
(2004) Ultimate attainment of L2 inflection: Effects of L1 prosodic structure. In S. Foster-Cohen, M. Sharwood Smith, A. Sorace, & M. Ota (Eds.), Eurosla Yearbook, Vol 4 (pp. 119–145). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Gregg, K. R.
(1996) The logical and developmental problems of second language acquisition. In W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 49–81). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gregg, K.
(2003) The state of emergentism in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 19, 95–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grüter, T.
(2005/2006) Another take on the L2 initial state: Evidence from comprehension in L2 German. Language Acquisition, 13, 287–317. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R., & Chan, C. Y.-H.
(1997) The partial availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition: The ‘failed functional features hypothesis’. Second Language Research, 13, 187–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R., & Hattori, H.
(2006) Interpretation of English multiple wh-questions by Japanese speakers: A missing uninterpretable feature account. Second Language Research, 22, 269–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, R., & Liszka, S.
(2003) Locating the source of defective past tense marking in advanced L2 English speakers. In R. van Hout, A. Hulk, F. Kuiken, & R. Towell (Eds.), The lexicon-syntax interface in second language acquisition (pp. 21–44). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haznedar, B., & Schwartz, B. D.
(1997) Are there optional infinitives in child L2 acquisition? In E. Hughes, M. Hughes, & A. Greenhill (Eds.), Proceedings of the 21st Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 257–268). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Hopp, H.
(2009) The syntax-discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition: Off-line and on-line performance. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12, 463–483. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Working memory effects in the L2 processing of ambiguous relative clauses. Language Acquisition, 21, 250–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) The timing of lexical and syntactic processes in second language comprehension. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37, 1253–1280. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. & Newport, E.
(1991) Critical period effects on universal properties of language: The status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language. Cognition, 39, 215–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Juffs, A.
(2004) Representation, processing and working memory in a second language. Transactions of the Philological Society, 102, 199–225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, E., Baek, S., & Tremblay, A.
(2016) The role of island constraints in second language sentence processing. Language Acquisition, 22, 384–416. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lardiere, D.
(1998) Case and tense in the ‘fossilized’ steady state. Second Language Research, 14, 1–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2000) Mapping features to forms in second language acquisition. In J. Archibald (Ed.), Second language acquisition and linguistic theory (pp. 102–129). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2009) Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 25, 173–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liceras, J.
(1989) On some properties of the “pro-drop” parameter: Looking for missing subjects in non-native Spanish. In S. Gass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition (pp. 109–133). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ma, J. H., Kim, J.-H., & Schwartz, B. D.
(2007) The status of subjacency in L2 children, L2 adults and L1 children: Revisiting Johnson & Newport (1991) Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, October 2007.
Meisel, J.
(1997) The acquisition of the syntax of negation in French and German: Contrasting first and second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 13, 227–263. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Grady, W.
(2003) The radical middle: Nativism without Universal Grammar. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 19–42). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) The emergentist program. Lingua, 118, 447–464. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Grady, W., Lee, M., & Kwak, H.-Y.
(2009) Emergentism and second language acquisition. In W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia (Eds.), The new handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 69–88). Bingley: Emerald.Google Scholar
Omaki, A., & Schultz, B.
(2011) Filler-gap dependences and island constraints in second-language sentence processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33, 563–588. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ortifelli, R., & Grüter, T.
(2013) Do null subjects really transfer? In J. Cabrelli Amaro, T. Judy, & D. Pascual y Cabo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2013) (pp. 145–154). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Özçelik, Ö.
(2016) Acquisition of L2 Turkish prosody: The effects of purely phonological and phonosyntactic issues. In A. Gürel (Ed.), Second language acquisition of Turkish (pp. 19–48). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pater, J.
(1997) Metrical parameter missetting in second language acquisition. In S. J. Hannahs, & M. Young-Scholten (Eds.), Focus on phonological acquisition (pp. 235–261). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Pienemann, M., & Lenzing, A.
(2015) Processability Theory. In B. VanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 159–179). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Prévost, P., & White, L.
(2000) Missing surface inflection or impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement. Second Language Research, 16, 103–133. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramchand, G., & Reiss, C.
(Eds.) (2007) The Oxford handbook of linguistic interfaces. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ritter, E.
(1993) Where’s gender? Linguistic Inquiry, 24, 795–803.Google Scholar
Rizzi, L.
(1982) Issues in Italian syntax. Dordrecht: Foris. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ross, J. R.
(1967) Constraints on variables in syntax. Unpublished PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Schachter, J.
(1990) On the issue of completeness in second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 6, 93–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B. D., & Sprouse, R.
(1996) L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, 12, 40–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2000) When syntactic theories evolve: Consequences for L2 acquisition research. In J. Archibald (Ed.), Second language acquisition and linguistic theory (pp. 156–186). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Selinker, L.
(1972) Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10, 209–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R.
(2008) Meaning in the second language. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sorace, A.
(2011) Pinning down the concept of “interface” in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1, 1–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A., & Filiaci, F.
(2006) Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian. Second Language Research, 22, 339–368. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vainikka, A., & Young-Scholten, M.
(1996) Gradual development of L2 phrase structure. Second Language Research, 12, 7–39 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, L.
(1985) The pro-drop parameter in adult second language acquisition. Language Learning, 35, 47–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1989) Universal grammar and second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Second language acquisition and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, L., & Juffs, A.
(1998) Constraints on wh-movement in two different contexts of non-native language acquisition: Competence and processing. In S. Flynn, G. Martohardjono, & W. O’Neil (Eds.), The generative study of second language acquisition (pp. 111–129). Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Whong, M., Gil, K.-H., & Marsden, H.
(Eds.) (2013) Universal Grammar and the second language classroom. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 8 other publications

Bayram, Fatih, Grazia Di Pisa, Jason Rothman & Roumyana Slabakova
2021. Current Trends and Emerging Methodologies in Charting Heritage Language Grammars. In The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics, ► pp. 545 ff. DOI logo
Kim, Sujeong, Heejeong Ko & Hyun-Kwon Yang
2020. Telicity and mode of merge in L2 acquisition of resultatives. Language Acquisition 27:2 ► pp. 117 ff. DOI logo
Puig-Mayenco, Eloi, Ian Cunnings, Fatih Bayram, David Miller, Susagna Tubau & Jason Rothman
2018. Language Dominance Affects Bilingual Performance and Processing Outcomes in Adulthood. Frontiers in Psychology 9 DOI logo
Rothman, Jason, Jorge González Alonso & Eloi Puig-Mayenco
2019. Third Language Acquisition and Linguistic Transfer, DOI logo
SLABAKOVA, ROUMYANA
2019. “L” Stands for Language. The Modern Language Journal 103:S1 ► pp. 152 ff. DOI logo
Slabakova, Roumyana, Tania Leal, Amber Dudley & Micah Stack
2020. Generative Second Language Acquisition, DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2021. Research Approaches to Heritage Languages. In The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics, ► pp. 373 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Bilingualism, Language Development and Processing across the Lifespan [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 15], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.