Morphology and its Interfaces in Second Language Knowledge

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Godfroid ◽  
Kathy MinHye Kim

Abstract This study addresses the role of domain-general mechanisms in second-language learning and knowledge using an individual differences approach. We examine the predictive validity of implicit-statistical learning aptitude for implicit second-language knowledge. Participants (n = 131) completed a battery of four aptitude measures and nine grammar tests. Structural equation modeling revealed that only the alternating serial reaction time task (a measure of implicit-statistical learning aptitude) significantly predicted learners’ performance on timed, accuracy-based language tests, but not their performance on reaction-time measures. These results inform ongoing debates about the nature of implicit knowledge in SLA: they lend support to the validity of timed, accuracy-based language tests as measures of implicit knowledge. Auditory and visual statistical learning were correlated with medium strength, while the remaining implicit-statistical learning aptitude measures were not correlated, highlighting the multicomponential nature of implicit-statistical learning aptitude and the corresponding need for a multitest approach to assess its different facets.


2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Juffs

In this article I discuss some key points that are raised in the papers in this special issue. The first issue is that a variety of theoretical tools are necessary for a complete understanding of the issues raised in these papers. Second, although the methodology that is used in studies of second language knowledge has improved, it is clear we still lack an agreed-on set of protocols that will permit reliable comparisons across studies. In spite of these challenges, we are making progress in using complementary theories of the role of lexical representation, predication, and crosslinguistic variation to get a full picture of this complex area of lexico-morphosyntactic knowledge.


2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Dekydtspotter

This article presents evidence that supports the claim that second language (L2) grammars arise in a domain-specific, informationally encapsulated module with contents provided by Universal Grammar and enriched by native language knowledge, as entertained by Schwartz (1986, 1987, 1999) contra Bley-Vroman (1990). I consider state-of-the-art evidence representative of a body of research on the poverty of the stimulus (POS) that argues for the domain-specificity of L2 representations, with a main focus on interpretation. Then I examine interpretive evidence relevant to the role of informational encapsulation and compositionality in SLA. I seek to demonstrate that the acquisition of syntax-linked interpretive properties where the POS is severe provides opportunities for a type of fingerprinting of mental organization that can inform a variety of epistemologically relevant questions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Del Maschio ◽  
Simone Sulpizio ◽  
Michelle Toti ◽  
Camilla Caprioglio ◽  
Gianpaolo Del Mauro ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-664
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn Schachter

In this revised dissertation, Robinson tackles two important topics in adult second language learning: (a) the roles of attention and awareness and (b) the mechanisms for storage of second language knowledge.


2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZhaoHong Han

The construct of the native speaker is germane to second language acquisition (SLA) research; it underlies, and permeates, a significant bulk of SLA theory construction and empirical research. Nevertheless, it is one of the least investigated (and for that matter, least understood) concepts in the field. Even a cursory reading of the major SLA literature would not yield one readily available definition that captures the essential uses that have been made of the concept: including, but not limited to, setting the native speaker as a goal or a model for SLA or using the native speaker as a yardstick to measure second language knowledge. As is, the concept remains assumed-based on common sense observation and intuition-rather than exposed to scientific inquiry. In this article I would like to draw attention to this pivotal yet much neglected concept by reviewing Davies (1991; 2003) on the native speaker. A by no means exhaustive account, the books outline principal parameters for considering the native speaker concept, thereby providing a useful basis for further inquiry.


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