Developing I-Language in L1 and L2
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Julia Herschensohn
Abstract
This paper reconsiders the nature of second language grammars—whether a language learner’s ability can be characterized as I-language or E-language (Chomsky 1986)—and how the nature of second language compares to that of first language grammars. It responds to these questions by arguing that language learners—both first and second—develop I-language over time in similar and different ways. The first section reviews conceptions of competence, performance and language variation, particularly in terms of first language acquisition. The next section considers these same points in terms of less systematic systems, those of atypical first language development (Specific Language Impairment) and second language acquisition. The third section discusses recent work on endstate interlanguage grammars that will elucidate the nature of second language deficits and the contributing causes for them.
Abstract
This paper reconsiders the nature of second language grammars—whether a language learner’s ability can be characterized as I-language or E-language (Chomsky 1986)—and how the nature of second language compares to that of first language grammars. It responds to these questions by arguing that language learners—both first and second—develop I-language over time in similar and different ways. The first section reviews conceptions of competence, performance and language variation, particularly in terms of first language acquisition. The next section considers these same points in terms of less systematic systems, those of atypical first language development (Specific Language Impairment) and second language acquisition. The third section discusses recent work on endstate interlanguage grammars that will elucidate the nature of second language deficits and the contributing causes for them.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Null Expletives and Case: The View from Romance 1
- On the Existence of Null Complementizers in Old French 19
- On the Lack of Transparency Effects in French 37
- On the Syllabification of Prevocalic /w/ in Judeo-Spanish 51
- Word Order and Minimalism 69
- The Status of Old French Clitics in the 12th Century 89
- Towards a Unified Account of Positive and Negative Polarity: Evidence from Romanian 105
- Correlativization and Degree Quantification in Spanish 121
- Imperfect Variation and Class Marking in the Old Spanish Third Conjugation 143
- Licensing Negative Fragments and the Interpretation of Comparison 157
- Developing I-Language in L1 and L2 173
- Crypto-Variation in Italian Velar Palatalisation 193
- Antisymmetry and the Typology of Relative Clauses: Morphological Evidence from Romance 209
- Romance Paths as Cognate Complements: A Lexical-Syntactic Account 227
- Discriminating Pitch Accent Alignment in Spanish 243
- Proscriptions…Gaps…and Something in Between: An Experimental Examination of Spanish Phonotactics 261
- Romanian Palatalization: The Role of Place of Articulation in Perception 277
- Putting in Order the Spanish DP 291
- The Domain of Palatalization in Romanian 307
- Rhotic Metathesis Asymmetries in Romance: Formalizing the Effects of Articulation and Perception on Sound Change 321
- The Left Edge in the Spanish Clausal Structure 339
- Index 359
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Null Expletives and Case: The View from Romance 1
- On the Existence of Null Complementizers in Old French 19
- On the Lack of Transparency Effects in French 37
- On the Syllabification of Prevocalic /w/ in Judeo-Spanish 51
- Word Order and Minimalism 69
- The Status of Old French Clitics in the 12th Century 89
- Towards a Unified Account of Positive and Negative Polarity: Evidence from Romanian 105
- Correlativization and Degree Quantification in Spanish 121
- Imperfect Variation and Class Marking in the Old Spanish Third Conjugation 143
- Licensing Negative Fragments and the Interpretation of Comparison 157
- Developing I-Language in L1 and L2 173
- Crypto-Variation in Italian Velar Palatalisation 193
- Antisymmetry and the Typology of Relative Clauses: Morphological Evidence from Romance 209
- Romance Paths as Cognate Complements: A Lexical-Syntactic Account 227
- Discriminating Pitch Accent Alignment in Spanish 243
- Proscriptions…Gaps…and Something in Between: An Experimental Examination of Spanish Phonotactics 261
- Romanian Palatalization: The Role of Place of Articulation in Perception 277
- Putting in Order the Spanish DP 291
- The Domain of Palatalization in Romanian 307
- Rhotic Metathesis Asymmetries in Romance: Formalizing the Effects of Articulation and Perception on Sound Change 321
- The Left Edge in the Spanish Clausal Structure 339
- Index 359
