scholarly journals On Attitudes toward Terminology

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Rashed Al-Mutairi ◽  
Evelina Leivada
Keyword(s):  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment

Out of the ten key notions that Evelina Leivada focuses on, her discussions of three seem highly problematic: Universal Grammar, faculty of language in the narrow sense, and grammaticality judgment.

scholarly journals Misused Terms in Linguistics

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelina Leivada
Keyword(s):  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Language Universals

Many terms in linguistics, Evelina Leivada observes, are often used inconsistently, incorrectly, or incoherently: Universal Grammar, language universals, parameter, feature, linguistic genotype, language faculty in a narrow sense, hardwired, and grammaticality judgment. These are the very terms that linguists have learned to love, striking evidence that love is often blind.

L2 Grammar and L2 Processing in the Acquisition of Spanish Prepositional Relative Clauses

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVIA PERPIÑÁN
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
The One

This paper investigates the acquisition of prepositional relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Arabic speakers to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other. An oral production task and an on-line self-paced grammaticality judgment task were analyzed. Results indicated that the acquisition of oblique relative clauses is a problematic area for L2 learners. Divergent results compared to native speakers in production and grammatical intuitions were found; however, L2 reading time data showed the same real-time effects that native speakers had, suggesting that the problems with this construction are not necessarily linked to processing deficits. These results are interpreted as evidence for the ability to apply universal processing principles in a second language, and the relative independence of the processing domain and the production system.

The empirical base of linguistics: Grammaticality judgments and linguistic methodology. Carson T. Schütze. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Pp. 212.

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-152
Author(s):  
Pilar Durán
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Reliable Data ◽  
Linguistic Methodology ◽  
Empirical Base ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
University Of Chicago Press

This book by Carson Schütze poses an important question. Are grammaticality judgments a reliable source of data for linguistic theories? Grammaticality judgments, reliable or not, have been the main, and most often the only, source of data in linguistic theory for many years. “‘Because many of the relevant structures are fairly complex and simply might not arise in the normal course of conversation, or during observation by an experimenter' (White, 1989, p. 58), UG [Universal Grammar] researchers have generally relied on some form of grammaticality judgment (GJ) task” (Katrien & Lantolf, 1992, p. 32). Katrien and Lantolf (1992) pointed out that with this task linguists try to draw on speakers' intuitions about their competence. Grammaticality judgments consist of questions about whether a sentence is grammatical according to native speakers. Most often, the native speaker is the linguist her- or himself as the only subject. Not only can bias exist when linguists are the source of data for her or his own theories, but also relying on the intuitions of only one speaker limits the credibility of the theory. When more than one speaker is queried, it has been shown that consistency is not always guaranteed: variation among and within speakers is a common feature in judgments (Mohan, 1977; Snow & Meijer, 1977). Idiosyncrasies of the subjects, presentation of the material, and experimenter's procedure are among the factors that contribute to this variation in judgments. An underlying problem in linguistic theorizing comes from the fact that linguists are normally not “trained in methods for getting reliable data” (p. 4). All this results in theories that are not adequately supported. Nonetheless, they are used as a springboard for new theories. Schütze provides linguists with answers to the following questions. What information about language can grammaticality judgments offer? What factors affect the form of these judgments? What can be done to make the best use of these judgments?

THE INTERACTION OF INSTRUCTION AND LEARNER-INTERNAL FACTORS IN THE ACQUISITION OF L2 MORPHOSYNTAX

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Toth
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
English Speaking

This study considers the role of instruction, second language (L2) input, first language (L1) transfer, and Universal Grammar (UG) in the development of L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. Specifically, it investigates the acquisition of the Spanish morpheme se by English-speaking adult learners. Participants included 91 university students and 30 Spanish native-speaker controls. Learners received form-focused, communicative instruction on se for one week and were tested before, immediately following, and 24 days after the treatment period. Assessment consisted of a grammaticality judgment task and two production tasks using se in a variety of verb classes. The results showed that se had been added to many learners' grammars, but also that L1-derived forms and overgeneralization errors had not been completely preempted. These findings are taken as evidence that the development of L2 grammars is affected by a number of independent, yet cooperating, knowledge sources, which thus supports a modular account of L2 acquisition.

Straight on through to Universal Grammar: Spatial modifiers in second language acquisition

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Stringer ◽  
Beatrix Burghardt ◽  
Hyun-Kyoung Seo ◽  
Yi-Ting Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Functional Hierarchy ◽  
Flow Of Information

There has been considerable progress in second language (L2) research at the syntax—semantics interface addressing how syntax can inform phrasal semantics, in terms of interpretive correlates of word order (Slabakova, 2008). This article provides evidence of a flow of information ostensibly in the opposite direction, from meaning to grammar, at the interface between lexical semantics and syntax. It is argued that there is a functional hierarchy of modifiers in the domain of adpositions, which enables the linguistic elaboration of trajectories, but that not all languages lexicalize all types. This study examines whether L2 learners of English are able to overcome the poverty of the stimulus and recruit the relevant functional categories despite their absence in the first language (L1). Modifiers were taught to learners individually, but never in combination. A computer-animated narrative was designed in order to create felicitous contexts for combinations of modifiers, and preference and grammaticality judgment tasks were administered to 121 students from various L1 backgrounds, as well as 20 native speakers. Accuracy scores were remarkably targetlike on binary combinations of modifiers (1) across proficiency levels, (2) across L1s, and (3) across the two tasks, revealing that with the semantics of modifiers in place, the syntactic hierarchy is naturally manifested.

Markedness and the acquisition of the English dative alternation by L2 speakers

1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Diffi Cult ◽  
Base Form ◽  
Sentence Construction ◽  
Definition Of

A recent series of articles by Mazurkewich (1984a; 1984b; 1985) has suggested that the English dative alternation is acquired by L2 speakers in the sequence: [_ NP PP] → [_ NP NP]. This order of difficulty, it is argued in those papers, reflects an aspect of Universal grammar (UG): [_ NP PP] construc tions are part of core grammar and are therefore unmarked in UG, while [_ NP NP] constructions are peripheral and are therefore marked in UG. According to Mazurkewich, 'markedness' as defined by UG directly explains order of difficulty: constructions that are deemed marked in UG are more diffi cult for L2 speakers to acquire than unmarked constructions. The present study reexamines the acquisition of the English dative alternation across a wider range of dative verbs than was considered by Mazurkewich. A group of French L 1 subjects were given two different tasks: a grammaticality judgment task and a sentence construction task. It was found that although the results confirm an order of difficulty: [_ NP PP] → [_ NP NP], this developmental sequence conceals a more complex set of stages in the acquisition of the dative alternation involving features like the syntactic distributional subclass of the verb in ques tion, whether the dative object involved is a lexical NP or a pronoun, and the syllabic structure of the base form of the verb. These features, it turns out, interact to produce a multistaged developmental sequence. This finding calls into question the usefulness of a UG definition of markedness in explaining the L2 acquisition of the English dative alternation. An alternative account is pro posed in terms of the familiar psycholinguistic notion of 'learning complexity' which seems to offer a better account of the acquisition process.

Mechanisms of Global Governance: Economic Analysis

2013 ◽  
pp. 4-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Grigoryev ◽  
A. Kurdin
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Global Problems

The coordination of economic activity at the global level is carried out through different mechanisms, which regulate activities of companies, states, international organizations. In spite of wide diversity of entrenched mechanisms of governance in different areas, they can be classified on the basis of key characteristics, including distribution of property rights, mechanisms of governance (in the narrow sense according to O. Williamson), mechanisms of expansion. This approach can contribute not only to classifying existing institutions but also to designing new ones. The modern aggravation of global problems may require rethinking mechanisms of global governance. The authors offer the universal framework for considering this problem and its possible solutions.

A CASE STUDY OF NL INFLUENCE IN UNIS FKIP ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS' INTERLANGUAGE

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-54
Author(s):  
Irmala Sukendra ◽  
Agus Mulyana ◽  
Imam Sudarmaji
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Similar System ◽  
The One ◽  
L1 Acquisition

Regardless to the facts that English is being taught to Indonesian students starting from early age, many Indonesian thrive in learning English. They find it quite troublesome for some to acquire the language especially to the level of communicative competence. Although Krashen (1982:10) states that “language acquirers are not usually aware of the fact that they are acquiring language, but are only aware of the fact that they are using the language for communication”, second language acquisition has several obstacles for learners to face and yet the successfulness of mastering the language never surmounts to the one of the native speakers. Learners have never been able to acquire the language as any native speakers do. Mistakes are made and inter-language is unavoidable. McNeili in Ellis (1985, p. 44) mentions that “the mentalist views of L1 acquisition hypothesizes the process of acquisition consists of hypothesis-testing, by which means the grammar of the learner’s mother tongue is related to the principles of the ‘universal grammar’.” Thus this study intends to find out whether the students go through the phase of interlanguage in their attempt to acquire second language and whether their interlanguage forms similar system as postulated by linguists (Krashen).

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