Chapter-7-Linguistic-aspects-of-interlanguage

Chapter7LinguisticaspectsofinterlanguageTypologicaluniversalsUniversalgrammarLearnabilityThecriticalperiodhypothesisAccesstoUGMarkednessCognitiveV.SlinguisticexplanationTypologicaluniversals:relativeclauses•Agoodexampleofhowlinguisticenquirycanshedlightoninterlanguagedevelopmentcanbefoundinthestudyofrelativeclauses.Languagesvaryinwhethertheyhaverelativeclausestructures.Somelanguages,likeEnglishandArabic,havethem,whileotherlanguages,likeChinese,donot.Thislinguisticdifferenceinfluencestheeasewithwhichlearnersareabletolearnrelativeclauses.•LearnerswhoseL1includesrelativeclausesfindthemeasiertolearnthanlearnerswhoseL1doesnotand,consequently,theyarelesslikelytoavoidlearningthem.•ThelinguisticstructureofEnglish(i.e.thefactthatrelativeclausesmayormaynotinterruptthemainclause)influenceshowacquisitionproceedsUniversalGrammar•ProposedbyNoamChomsky•Languageisgovernedbyasetofhighlyabstractprinciplesthatprovideparameterswhichartegivenparticularsettingsindifferentlanguages.•Theseabstractprinciplescompriseachild’sinnateknowledgeoflanguageandthatguideL1acquisition.TheCriticalPeriodHypothesis•Thereisaperiodduringwhichlanguageacquisitioniseasyandcomplete(i.e.nativespeakerabilityisachieved)andbeyondwhichitisdifficultandtypicallyincomplete.•ThereismuchevidencetosupporttheclaimthatL2learnerswhobeginlearningasadultsareunabletoachievenative-speakercompetenceineithergrammarorpronunciation.StudiesofimmigrantsintheU.S.showthatiftheyarrivebeforepubertytheygoontoachievemuchhigherlevelsofgrammaticalproficiencythaniftheyarriveafter.•However,theredoesnotappeartobeasuddencut-offage,beyondwhichfullcompetenceseemstodeclinegradually,becomingcompletebyabouttheageof16.interestingly,ageofarrivalisamuchbetterpredictorofultimateachievementthanthenumberofyearsofexposuretothetargetlanguage.•Thereissomeevidencethatnotalllearnersaresubjecttocriticalperiods.Someareabletoachievenative-speakerabilityfromanadultstart.AccesstoUG普遍语法可及性•ThereisnoagreementastowhetheradultL2learnershaveaccesstoUG.Intheorythereareanumberofpositions:completeaccess,noaccess,partialaccessanddualaccess.•TheexistenceofsuchcontradictorypositionsshowsthattheroleofUGinL2acquisitionisstilluncertain.Completeaccess•LearnersbeginwiththeparametersettingsoftheirL1butsubsequentlylearntoswitchtotheL2parametersettings.Anassumptionisthatfulltarget-languagecompetenceispossibleandthatthereisnosuchthingasacriticalperiod.Noaccess•UGisnotavailabletoadultL2learners.Theyrelyongenerallearningstrategies.Accordingtothisposition,L1andL2acquisitionarefundamentallydifferent.AdultL2learnerswillnormallynotbeabletoachievefullcompetenceandtheirinterlanguagesmaymanifest‘impossible’rules(i.e.rulesthatwouldbeprohibitedbyUG)Partialaccess•LearnershaveaccesstopartsofUGbutnotothers.Forinstance,theymayhaveaccesstoonlythoseUGparametersoperativeintheirL1.however,theymaybeabletoswitchtotheL2parametersettingwiththehelpofdirectinstructioninvolvingerrorcorrection.Inotherwords,L2acquisitionispartlyregulatedbyUGandpartlybygenerallearningstrategies.Dualaccess•Accordingtothisposition,adultL2learnersmakeuseofbothUGandgenerallearningstrategies.However,theuseofgenerallearningstrategiescan‘block’theoperationofUG,causinglearnerstoproduce‘impossible’errorsandtofailtoachievefullcompetence.ThispositionassumesthatadultlearnerscanonlybefullysuccessfulprovidingtheyrelyonUGMarkedness标记Itreferstothegeneralideathatsomestructuresaremore‘natural’or‘basic’thanotherstructures.Intypologicallinguistics,unmarkedstructuresarethosethatarecommonintheworld’slanguages.InChomskyanlinguistics,unmarkedstructuresarethosethataregovernedbyUGandwhich,thereforerequireonlyminimalevidenceofacquisition.•MarkedstructuresarethosethatlieoutsideUG.Inaddition,attemptshavealsobeenmadetodistinguishdegreesofmarkednessinthedifferentsettingsofaparameterofUG.•AnumberofhypothesesrelatingtomarkednesshavebeenexaminedinSLA.•1)Learnersacquirelessmarkedstructuresbeforemoremarkedones.•2)Learnersaremorelikelytoacquireafrequentbutmarkedstructurebeforeaninfrequentbutunmarkedstructurethanviceversa.•3)LearnersaremuchmorelikelytotransferunmarkedstructuresfromtheirL1thantheyaremarkedstructures.Summary•ThischapterhascomeupwithanumberofwaysinwhichlinguisticscanassistSLA.ThetypologicalstudyoflanguagesaffordsinterestingpredictionsaboutwhatlearnerswillacquirefirstandwhattheywilltransferfromtheirL1.UGalsoservesasasourceoffinely-tunedhypothesesaboutwhatstructureswillcauselearningdifficultyand,inaddition,raisesimportantquestionsaboutwhetherL2andL1acquisitionarethesameordifferent•ArelinguisticuniversalsandmarkednessseenashavingadirectorindirecteffectonSLA?•ThisquestioncomesdowntowhetherSLAistobeexplainedintermsofadistinctandinnatelanguagefacultyorintermsofgeneralcognitiveabilities.Thereisnoconsensusonthisissue.•ItshouldbenotedhoweverthatUGdoesnotclaimtoaccountforthewholeofalanguageoreventhewholeofthegrammarofalanguage.Assuch,itallowsformodularity–theexistenceofdifferentcomponentsoflanguagethatarelearnedindifferentways,somethroughUGandotherswiththeassistanceofgeneralcognitiveabilities.