Recent developments in linguistic theory have led to an important reorientation of research in related fields of linguistic inquiry as well as in linguistics itself. The developments I have in mind, viewed from the point of view of government-binding theory, have to do with the character ization of Universal Grammar (UG) as a set of subtheories, each with its set of central principles (perhaps just one principle central to each subtheory) and parameters (perhaps just one for each principle) according to which a principle can vary between an unmarked ('-') and a marked ('+') para metric value (Chomsky, 1985; 1986). For example, let us assume that there is an X-bar theory in explanation of those features of phrase structure irreducible to other subtheo ries of UG. Within X-bar theory variation among languages is then allowed only with respect to the position the head of a phrase occupies in rela t ion to its complemen ts such that the phrases of a language will be either right- or left-headed. Thus languages will vary between being right-headed in this respect (as in Japanese phrase structure) and being left-headed (as in English phrase structure). Everything else about the phrase structure of particular languages will be fixed within X-bar theory itself or else it will fallout from other subtheories of UG: Case theory; 0-theory, etc. (Chomsky, 1985:161-62; Chomsky, 1986:2-4; and references cited there). Hatters are the same in other modules of grammar.

Dalila Ayoun provides a broad overview of parameter-setting theory in first and second language acquisition and refines the theory by revisiting and challenging the traditional assumptions that underlie it, based on cross-linguistic language data that cover a range of syntactic and phonological phenomena.

This book examines child second language acquisition within the Principles and Parameters theory of Universal Grammar (UG). Specifically, the book focuses on null-subjects in the developing grammars of children acquiring English as a second language. The book provides evidence from the longitudinal speech data of four child second language (L2) learners in order to test the predictions of a recent theory of null-subjects, namely, the Morphological Uniformity Principle (MUP). Lakshmanan argues that the child L2 acquisition data offer little or no evidence in support of the MUP s predictions regarding a developmental relation between verb inflections and null-subjects. The evidence from these child L2 data indicates that regardless of the status of null subjects in their first language, child L2 learners of English hypothesize correctly from the very beginning that English requires subjects of tensed clauses to be obligatorily overt. The failure on the part of these learners to obey this knowledge in certain structural contexts is the result of perceptual factors that are unrelated to parameter setting. The book demonstrates the value of child second language acquisition data in evaluating specific proposals within linguistic theory for a Universal principle.

The term “crosscurrent” is defined as “a current flowing counter to another.” This volume represents crosscurrents in second language acquisition and linguistic theory in several respects. First, although the main currents running between linguistics and second language acquisition have traditionally flowed from theory to application, equally important contributions can be made in the other direction as well. Second, although there is a strong tendency in the field of linguistics to see “theorists” working within formal models of syntax, SLA research can contribute to linguistic theory more broadly defined to include various functional as well as formal models of syntax, theories of phonology, variationist theories of sociolinguists, etc. These assumptions formed the basis for a conference held at Stanford University during the Linguistic Institute there in the summer of 1987. The conference was organized to update the relation between second language acquisition and linguistic theory. This book contains a selection of (mostly revised and updated) papers of this conference and two newly written papers.

Table of contents

This volume is a collection of state-of-the-art papers in generative studies of second language (L2) acquisition bringing together an unusually broad range of interests and inquiry. Selected papers report on controlled experimental studies within specific areas of research investigating the development of L2 grammars; others formulate exciting new proposals for methodology and learnability in both first and second language acquisition. Following an introduction which argues for new research strategies that focus on the process of acquisition along with its product, the book is divided into two sections: Current Perspectives includes compelling new work on the development of functional categories within a parameter-setting model of L2 acquisition; the second section, New Directions, introduces research and discussion on topics which reflect the latest developments in the field, including syntax-semantics correspondences, L2 processing research, code-switching from a UG perspective, and applications of Chomsky’s (1995) Minimalist Program to second language acquisition studies.

Linking recent advances in theoretical syntax and empirical research in language development, the book claims that second language acquisition is not totally distinct from first language acquisition, but rather is a replay, a relearning of language. It argues that Universal Grammar is a template guiding acquisition of L1 while constraining acquisition of L2. Assuming that a syntactic distinction crucial for language and its acquisition is the division between lexical and functional categories, it argues that the key to L2 as well as L1 acquisition of syntax is the mastery of morphological features and their linking to functional categories. It thus supports the availability of UG to the second language learner and the minimalist claim that cross-linguistic variation is morpholexical. Constructionism, the hypothesis of L2A proposed in this account, argues for a period of feature underspecification after loss of the L1 value, followed by a progressive building of the L2 value through specific constructions.