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Universal GrammarUniversal GrammarAndAnd
Second Language AcquisitionSecond Language Acquisition
Moulay Ismail UniversityFaculty of Arts and HumanitiesMaster program : Applied Linguistics
THE OUTLINETHE OUTLINEI. Introduction.
II. What is Universal Grammar (UG)?
III.UG and Second Language Acquisition
i. The direct access model
ii. The indirect access model
iii. The no-access mode
iv. The Overall model
INTRODUCTION
The Behaviorists claim that children learn their mother tongue by imitation; listening and repeating what adults
say.
Noam Chomsky: Language acquisition cannot be reduced to the operation of response and stimulus,
every sentence we utter contains a new set of words or a mixture of new words .
Language is regulated by a large number of rules
and principles
WHAT IS UG?
The system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages. The
essence of human language. (Chomsky, 1976)
Children are born with knowledge that are common to all human languages. (Freeman, 2004)
All human beings share part of their knowledge of language; UG is their common possession regardless of
which language they speak. ( Cook, 1996)
PRINCIPLES & PARAMETERS
UG consists of a set of principles and a set of parameters.
The principles are universal.
i.e. they apply to all human languages,
The parameters vary, within certain limits, from one language to another.
i.e. the parameters of the language according to the language input that they receive from the environment.
e.g. Rules of the road in driving (Cook, 1996)
PRINCIPLES
STRUCTURE DEPENDENCE
S - NP, VP, PP, etc
Structure-dependency: Grammatical rules do not depend on the linear ordering of the words in the sentence, but on how
these words are structured within constituents of specific types.
e.g. Subject-auxiliary inversion in English
A) John is a student.
B) John who is a student is smart. A B
√ Is John a student ? √ Is John who is a student smart?
× Is John who a student is smart?“the question formation must be formulated in terms of some structural concept like subject” ( White,1989).
PARAMETERS
XP: X(Head), Complement
Parameter Head-initial (English) Head-final (Japanese, Korean) [read the book] [hon-o yonda] (book read)
VP VP
V(H) NP(C) NP(C) V(H) read the book the book read
HEAD PARAMETERS
THE PRO-DROP PARAMETER
The Null (Ø) Subject Parameter: omitting subject or the head of a sentence without violating the
meaning;
like Spanish and Italian and even Arabic
e.g. Parla francese . (Italian) yatakallamu alfaransiyyah. (Arabic) × Speaks French (English)
OPPOSITION TO THE UG THEORY
“Language approach [i.e. a Chomskyan approach …] sees language acquisition as a logical problem that can be solved in principle without looking at the development of actual children in detail.”
(Cook & Newson 1996, p. 78)
e.g. young English-speaking children frequently drop subjects (in a [- Pro-drop] language!) …
Summary
Chomsky’s theory of language separates lexicon and grammar
Grammar (UG) is innate and maturesIt functions as an independent “black box”UG contains principles and parameters
Principles: universal basic features of grammar e.g. nouns, verbs, structure-dependency
Parameters: grammar “switches” with a small number of options e.g. Pro-Drop, Head direction
Input is needed at the critical period, to learn the lexicon and to set the parameters
Is UG accessible to SLA?
DIRECT ACCESS
SLA is identical to L1 acquisition in respect of the UG operation.
Full-Access hypothesis, UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition.
UG is accessible in SLA for adults as well as children; there is no critical period
after which UG ceases to operate (Flynn, 1996)
INDIRECT ACCESS
L2 learners have access to UG through their L1.
Only L1-instantiated principles and L1-instantiated parameter-values of UG are available to the learner.
In white’s study, she compared between French and Spanish learners who learn English as their L2, whereas French is non-pro drop language just like English and Spanish is a pro-drop language. The study showed that Spanish learners produced sentences without subject more than French learners especially at early stage of learning.
Continue
White’s (1989) two significant conclusions:
1) UG is inaccessible but any aspect (principle and parameter) of it available in the L1 can be used in
L2.
2) Initially, L2 learners assume the L1 value of UG parameters, but are still able to tape UG.
NO ACCESS
No access (the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis) (Bley-Vroman, 1989).
L2 learners no longer have access to the principles and parameters of UG.
General learning principles replace UG.
COMPETITION MODEL
L2 learners have access to UG but this is partly blocked by the use of the
problem-solving-system (Felix, 1986).
Universal GrammarUniversal Grammar
Other mental abilities
Other mental abilities
L1grammar
L1grammar
L2 grammar
L2 grammar
Direct accessDirect access
No access
No access
Indirect Access
Indirect Access
UG & SLA
Conclusion
Thank you so much for Thank you so much for your attentionyour attention
REFERENCES
Chomsky, N. (1976). Language and Responsibility. Brighton: Harvester Press.
Cook, V,J (1996). "Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction". Blackwell Publishers.
Cook, V. J. (1993). Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. Basingstoke: Macmilan.
Cook, V. J. (1997). Inside Language. London: St. Martin's
Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2004). Essential Linguistics. Port smouth: Heinemann. Press.
White, L. (1989). Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition.( 1989). Amsterdam: Benjamin.