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In:Bilingual Cognition and Language: The state of the science across its subfields
Edited by David Miller, Fatih Bayram, Jason Rothman and Ludovica Serratrice
[Studies in Bilingualism 54] 2018
► pp. 57–78

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Chapter 4
Formal linguistics and second language acquisition

 | McGill University
Published online: 8 March 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.54.04whi
Abstract
This paper motivates formal linguistic approaches to second language (L2) acquisition, particularly approaches grounded in generative grammar, and provides an overview of how such approaches have developed over time. The role of the mother tongue grammar and Universal Grammar (UG) in shaping the acquisition of linguistic representations is examined, starting with early debates on the effects of principles and parameters of UG in L2 (the UG access debate). This focus has been replaced with more nuanced analyses of the nature of interlanguage representations, for example, the nature of the initial state, the status of functional categories and features in L2 grammars, as well as potential problems at the linguistic interfaces. Discrepancies between underlying L2 competence and L2 performance are discussed, focusing on research that addresses the question of how representations are accessed and used in real time processing.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.What is formal linguistics?
  • 3.Motivation for the formal linguistic approach
  • 4.Research under the formal approach
    • Phase 1: Focus on principles and parameters
    • Phase 2: Focus on representation
  • 5.Beyond representation: Accessing and using the interlanguage representation
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (67)
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