In:
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Cambridge University Press (CUP), Vol. 31, No. 2 ( 2009-06), p. 199-223
Abstract:
This article examines how changes in linguistic theory affect the debate between the fundamental difference hypothesis and the access-to-Universal Grammar (UG) approach to SLA. With a focus on subjacency (Chomsky, 1973), a principle of UG that places constraints on wh -movement and that has frequently been taken as a test case for verifying second language (L2) access to UG, we reanalyze earlier L2 findings in terms of a revised constraint, which effectively prohibits extraction out of subjects and adjuncts. We show that L2 learners indeed observe such a constraint on wh -movement, and, at the same time, we suggest that recent claims for a universal computational system (e.g., Chomsky, 1995; Uriagereka, 1999) make the respective roles of the first language and UG difficult to tease apart.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0272-2631
,
1470-1545
DOI:
10.1017/S0272263109090287
Language:
English
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Date:
2009
detail.hit.zdb_id:
435303-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2002746-1
SSG:
7,11
SSG:
5,3
