Resetting Universal Grammar parameters: evidence from Second Language Acquisition of Subjacency and the Empty Category Principle

Abstract

This article is concerned with whether the principles of UG are available in adult Second Language Acquisition (SLA) as in child first language acquisition. My hypothesis is that these principles are fully available to the L2 learner, and that the process of L2 acquisition is, in fact, a process of parameter-reassignment or new assignment in which the L2 learner resets the parameter-values of the L1 to their values in the L2. In order to test this hypothesis, I built on previous work by Martohardjono (1991) and conducted a study which examined the acquisition of two principles of UG, Subjacency and the Empty Category Principle, by native speakers of Hebrew learning English as a second language. I made a series of predictions with respect to the patterns of acquisition for various constructions in the target language, based on the assumption that L2 grammars are systems of knowledge guided by the internal logic, or 'systematicity' specified by UG. These predictions were borne out by the results of my study, leading to the conclusion that UG is indeed available in SLA. My conclusion corroborates other studies in the field which have reached similar conclusions (e.g., Flynn, 1987;White, 1988 andMartohardjono, 1991). * I would like to thank Suzanne Flynn, Gita Martohardjono, Wayne O'Neil and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and discussion. Special thanks go to the Israeli subjects who participated in my study; and to John J. Kim of the MIT Cognitive Science Department and Dr. Shmuel Ellis of Tel-Aviv University for their assistance with the statistical analysis of the results. Many thanks to Yosi Karl for his technical assistance.

The Availability of Universal Grammar to Second Language Learners: A Case of Wh-movement

“…However, if the ungrammatical construction of that-trace is excluded (one which has brought down the overall performance of non-natives), their performance on violations of UG principles will not be significantly different (t (1.697) = 59, p< .05). On the whole, the Subjacency and the ECP results obtained in this experiment are compatible with the previous findings (White, 1988;Bley-Vroman et al, 1988;Uziel, 1993;Wakabayashi & Okawara, 2003;Hawkins & Hattori, 2006). As predicted by the hypothesis, within-group analyses revealed that Persian speakers behaved like English natives, discriminating between grammatical and ungrammatical Wh-movements.…”

“…Some studies suggest that adult L2 learners show native-like competence with respect to the Subjacency and the ECP constraints (White, 1988;Bley-Vroman et al, 1989;Uziel, 1993;Wakabayashi & Okawara, 2003). Based on the findings, these L2 researchers argue that knowledge of these principles must be innate, in the form of principles of UG.…”

Verb movement in the L2 acquisition of English by adult native speakers of French

“…Instead, their grammar must distinguish English as a [-mvt] language for negation, adverbs, pronominal inversion with lexical verbs, and floating quantifiers, and English as a [+mvt] language for pronominal inversion with have/be. This mismatch or partial overlap in parameter settings is likely to slow down L2 acquisition leading to a progressive, rather than instantaneous, manifestation of parametric values as evidenced by clustering of the various properties associated with a given parameter (Ayoun 1997, Boe 1996, Flynn 1987, Uziel 1993. This is one way of interpreting how the deductive consequences of parameter (re)setting may work in adult L2 acquisition, as opposed to a more literal interpretation requiring an immediate clustering of the properties (Flynn and O'Neil 1988).…”

The theoretical significance of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition

“…'POS-oriented' studies of locality like Martohardjono's described above (and related studies: Uziel, 1993;Li, 1998;White and Juffs, 1998) are interested in the relative sensitivity of L2 learners to strong and weak locality violations. All the cited studies find such relative sensitivity, clearly suggesting that L2 learners' mental representations are UG-derived, and all also find differences in levels of accuracy between nonnative and native informants.…”