Cross Currents in Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory

444 Pages·1991·5.867 MB·

by  Thom Huebner, Charles A. Ferguson

CROSSCURRENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
AND LINGUISTIC THEORIES
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION & LANGUAGE DISORDERS
EDITORS
Harald Clahsen William Rutherford
Universität Düsseldorf University of Southern California
EDITORIAL BOARD
Melissa Bowerman (Max Planck Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen)
Patricia Clancy (University of Southern California)
Werner Deutsch (Universität Braunschweig)
Kenji Hakuta (University of California at Santa Cruz)
Kenneth Hyltenstam (University of Stockholm)
Peter Jordens (Free University, Amsterdam)
Barry McLaughlin (University of California at Santa Cruz)
Jürgen Meisel (Universität Hamburg)
Anne Mills (University of Amsterdam)
Csaba Pleh (University of Budapest)
Michael Sharwood Smith (University of Utrecht)
Catherine Snow (Harvard University)
Jürgen Weissenborn (Max Planck Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen)
Lydia White (McGill University)
Helmut Zobl (Carleton University, Ottawa)
Volume 2
Thom Huebner and Charles A. Ferguson (eds)
Crosscurrents in Second Language Acquisition
and Linguistic Theories
CROSSCURRENTS IN
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
AND LINGUISTIC THEORIES
edited by
THOM HUEBNER
San Jose State University
and
CHARLES A. FERGUSON
Stanford University
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
1991
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crosscurrents in second language acquisition and linguistic theories / edited by Thorn
Huebner and Charles A. Ferguson.
p. cm. -- (Language acquisition and language disorders, ISSN 0925-0123; v. 2)
Papers and discussions at a conference held in the summer of 1987 at the Linguistic Insti­
tute of Stanford University.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Second language acquisition ~ Congresses. 2. Linguistics ~ Congresses. I. Huebner,
Thorn. II. Ferguson, Charles Albert, 1921- . III. Series.
P118.2.C76 1991
418 -- dc20 91-17382
ISBN 90 272 2463 3 (Eur.) /1-55619-235-5 (US) (hb. alk. paper) CIP
ISBN 90 272 2466 8 (Eur.) / 1-55619-238-X (US) (pb. alk. paper)
® Copyright 1991 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or
any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O. Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America • 821 Bethlehem Pike • Philadelphia, PA 19118 • USA
Table of contents
Preface vii
I. Overviews
Second language acquisition: litmus test for linguistic theory? 3
Thorn Huebner
Recent trends in syntactic theory 23
Peter Sells
Typology/universals and second language acquisition 37
Joseph H. Greenberg
II. From Theories to Hypothesis Testing
Prosodic phonology: second language acquisition data as evidence in
theoretical phonology 47
Irene Vogel
Natural morphology: the organization of paradigms and language
acquisition 67
Joan L. Bybee
Typological text analysis: tense and aspect in creoles and second
languages 93
John Myhill
Relational grammar: L2 learning and the components of L1
knowledge 123
Carol Rosen
Government-binding: parameter-setting in second language
acquisition 143
Suzanne Flynn
SLA theory: prolegomena to a theory of language acquisition and
implications for theoretical linguistics 169
Wolfgang Klein
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
Functionalist linguistics: discourse structure and language processing
in second language acquisition 195
Ann Cooreman and Kerry Kilborn
Variation theory: implicational scaling and critical age limits in
models of linguistic variation, acquisition and change 225
John R. Rickford
III. From Data to Model Building
Perception and production: the relevance of phonetic input to L2
phonological learning 249
James Emil Flege
The teaching of intonation: classroom experiences to theoretical
models 291
Ann Cessans and Dwight Bolinger
Developmental sequences: the emergence of aspect marking in
second language acquisition 305
Roger W. Andersen
Cross-generational bilingualism: theoretical implications of language
attrition 325
Carmen Silva-Corvalán
Modality and second language learning: a challenge for linguistic
theory 347
Norbert Dittmar and Heiner Terborg
Narrative and description: temporal reference in second language
acquisition 385
Christiane von Stutterheim
Cross-linguistic comparisons: organizational principles in learner
languages 405
Clive Perdue
IV. Conclusions
Currents between second language acquisition and linguistic theory 425
Charles A. Ferguson
Preface
The term "crosscurrent" is defined as a current flowing counter to
another". This volume represents crosscurrents in second language acquisi­
tion (SLA) 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" as
working only 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 at the Linguistic Institute there in the summer of 1987. The con­
ference, called officially "Second Language Acquisition: Contributions and
Challenges to Linguistic Theory", was organized to update the relation
between second language acquisition and linguistic theory. The papers and
discussions of that conference were generally felt by the participants to
merit further dissemination, and this volume represents an attempt to dis­
seminate them. In the usual pattern of the publication of conference
papers, some were substantially revised, others never became available for
publication, and two of the papers here are essentially newly written for the
volume.
Although the initial planning was independent of an earlier conference
with a similar focus, the Stanford conference soon came to be concep­
tualized as complementing and broadening the objectives of the conference
on "Linguistic Theory and Second Language Acquisition" held at MIT in
October 1985 (cf. Flynn and O'Neil 1988). Most of the papers presented at
the MIT con ference dealt with the application to second language acquisi­
tion of the government-binding theory of universal grammar currently
being developed, particularly the parameter-setting aspects of that theory,
which seem to have important implications for both first and second lan­
guage acquisition. The Stanford conference included a wider variety of
viii PREFACE
theoretical positions in linguistics, a broader notion of the range of topics to
be considered in linguistic research, and a more explicit acknowledgment
that second language acquisition research might contribute to the develop­
ment of linguistic theory and that a theory of second language acquisition
might be independent of linguistic theory in important respects. Also, the
Stanford conference deliberately included a wide variety of research
methods. A potential effect of crosscurrents in sailing is to temporarily
impede progress towards one's goal, and admittedly the heterogeneity of
the conference papers may diminish the likelihood of immediate progress in
theory construction or validation.
On the other hand, the conference proved highly stimulating to the
participants as evidenced by the intense informal discussions that took place
outside the formal sessions. As a result, many of the participants felt the
need to sharpen their own papers and to take other people's views into
account. Such are the positive effects of crosscurrents: they force one to
recheck one's bearings.
Of course a conference of the kind that produced the papers in this vol­
ume requires a great deal of support, and this one was no exception. To
cover the costs of participants' travel and other miscellaneous expenses, we
are indebted to Thomas A. Wasow for a grant from the Center for the
Study of Language and Information at Stanford, and to Dean Marshall S.
Smith of the Stanford School of Education, who made available to us a
grant from the Terman Fund. Finally, a number of graduate students in the
School of Education helped with the little details of planning and execution
of the conference which neither of the editors of this volume is very good
at. These include, in alphabetical order: Ron Anderson, Fumiko Arao,
James Barton, Chris Pearson Casanave, Sik Lee Cheung, Nidia Edfelt,
Renu Gupta, Rosemary Henze, Robin Avelar LaSalle, Shei-Lan Shi, and
Mary a Teutsch-Dwyer.
C.A.F.
T.G.H.
Reference
Flynn, S. and W. O'Neil. 1988. Linguistic Theory in Second Language Acquisition. Dor­
drecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
I. Overviews