Methodological problems in UG/LM-accessibility research in second language acquisition.
Item
-
Title
-
Methodological problems in UG/LM-accessibility research in second language acquisition.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9908325
-
identifier
-
9908325
-
Creator
-
Hashimoto, Takaaki.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Herbert W. Seliger
-
Date
-
1998
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Language, Linguistics
-
Abstract
-
The thesis discusses metatheoretical and methodological problems in second language (L2) acquisition research on the issue of UG-accessibility.;It is argued that claims made by some proponents of the position that UG constrains L2 acquisition are unfalsifiable, due to the lack of a clear formulation of UG constraints or the associated learning mechanism (LM), from which specific predictions on L2 are made, and the appeal to general cognitive learning measures for the explanation of data not conforming to the UG/LM predictions. Some claims also lack appropriate motivation for an appeal to UG/LM in the explanation of L2 acquisition.;While most researchers have investigated whether L2 learners' interlanguage conforms to UG predictions, this approach, in principle, cannot provide evidence against UG-accessibility, if alleged UC violations at a given stage in the interlanguage development are dismissed on the basis that the theory of UG specifies the properties of the steady state of natural language grammar and not the properties of intermediate stages of development. The thesis proposes an alternative approach to test whether adult L2 learners' hypotheses about L2 structure are in fact constrained by UG, by investigating the acquisition of an artificial language that is designed to violate the Empty Category Principle, one of the UG constraints that have been tested in L2 acquisition research on UG-accessibility. It is argued that if L2 learners successfully learn ECP violations through exposure to the primary linguistic data of the artificial language, it will constitute evidence against UG-accessibility in L2 acquisition.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
