1. CLL Session 4: L2 Development
LAEL, Lancaster University
Florencia Franceschina

2. What do we study when we study (L2) development?
Developmental sequences
Mechanisms that cause these sequences (transition theories)

3. What are the sequences of L2 development?
NB: It is important to separate rate and route of development when analysing developmental data.
Example:
Morpheme order studies (Dulay and Burt, 1973, 1974; Bailey, Madden and Krashen, 1974)

4. Dulay and Burt (1974) Graph from G&S (2001)
Same graph can be found in Dulay et al (1982: 206)

5. Example: The acquisition of question formation Pienemann, Johnston and Brindley (1988)
1. A dog? 2. The boys throw the shoes? 3. What the dog are playing? Is the picture has two planets on top? 4. Where is the sun? 5. How do you say [proche]? 6. It’s better, isn’t it? Why can’t you go? Can you tell me what the date is today?

6. Example: The acquisition of negation Schumann (1979)
No bicycle. No have any sand. I no like it.
He don’t like it. I don’t can sing.
You can not go there. He was not happy. She don’t like rice.
It doesn’t work. We didn’t have supper. I didn’t went there.
Summarized in Lightbown and Spada (1999: 77-78)

7. L1 vs. L2 developmental sequences
There are some similarities and some differences Example: Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982), Meisel, Clahsen and Pienemann (1981)

8. Dulay and Burt (1974)
Graph from Dulay et al. (1982: 213)

9. Adult vs child L2 development
They are quite similar Example: Compare Dulay and Burt (1974) and Bailey Madden and Krashen (1974)

10. *Dulay and Burt (1974) ** Bailey et al. (1974)
This graph is from Dulay et al. (1982: 210)

11. L1 effects on L2 development
On rate of development Dulay and Burt (1974) on grammatical morphemes Schumann (1982) on negation Gilbert and Orlovic (1975) on articles Keller-Cohen (1978) on yes/no questions
On route of development Zobl (1982) on articles

12. Context of acquisition effects on L2 development
Virtually no effects in terms of route of development Dulay and Burt (1973) Pienemann (1989) Pica (1983) Perkins and Larsen-Freeman (1975)
Some effects of instruction on rate of acquisition Pienemann (1989)

13. Dulay and Burt (1973)

14. Methodological issues
How should one measure language development? - Emergence criterion - Mastery (accuracy) criterion

15. Exercise: Testing proposed morpheme orders

16. Explaining developmental sequences
According to Gregg (1996), developmental sequences can be explained as:
Environmental
Reductive
Teleological
Psycholinguistic

17. Theories of L2 development
(a.k.a. transition theories)
1. General learning principles (non-modular)
2. Modular learning mechanisms

18. 1. Non-modular theories Based on general learning principles
Example: - hypothesis testing - automaticity - inferencing etc.
LA= acquisition of a complex cognitive skill

19. 2. Modular theories
UG-based Example: Subset Principle (Wexler and Manzini, 1987)
Other Example: Communicative Competence Theory (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990)

20. Subset Principle (e.g., Wexler and Manzini, 1987)

21. Communicative language competence (e. g
Communicative language competence (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990)

23. Current issues in UG-based theories of L2 development
The initial state debate:
Minimal Trees (Vainikka and Young-Scholten, 1994, 1996, 1998) vs
Full Transfer/Full Access (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1994, 1996)

24. The endstate debate: Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis
(Prevost and White, 2000)
vs.
Failed Functional Features Hypothesis
(Hawkins and Chan, 1997)

25. Reading
Hawkins, R. 2001: Second Language Syntax. A generative introduction. Oxford: Blackwell. (Chapter 2)

26. References
Bachman, L. F. 1990: Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bailey, N., C. Madden and S. Krashen 1974: Is there a 'natural sequence' in adult second language learning? Language Learning 24:
Canale, M. and M. Swain. 1980: Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1, 1: 1-47.
Dulay, H. and M. Burt. 1973: Should we teach children syntax? Language Learning 23,
Dulay, H. and M. Burt 1974: Natural sequences in child second language acquisition. Language Learning 24:
Dulay, H., M. Burt and S. D. Krashen. 1982: Language two. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gregg, K. R. 1996: The logical and developmental problems of SLA, in W. C. Ritchie and T. K. Bhatia, eds. The handbook of second language acquisition. San Diego: Academic Press. Pp
Hawkins, R. and C. Chan 1997: The partial availability of UG in second language acquisition: the ‘failed functional features hypothesis’. Second Language Research 13, 3:
Meisel, J. M., H. Clahsen and M. Pienemann. 1981: On determining developmental stages in natural second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 3, 2:
Perkins, K. and D. Larsen-Freeman. 1975: The effect of formal language instruction on the order of morpheme acquisition. Language Learning 25,

27. Pica, T. 1983: Adult acquisition of English as a second language under different conditions of exposure. Language Learning 33,
Pienemann, M. 1989: Is language teachable? Applied Linguistics 10, 1:
Pienemann, M., M. Johnston and G. Brindley. 1988: Constructing an acquisition-based procedure for second language assessment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 10, 2:
Prévost, P. and L. White. 2000: Missing surface inflection or impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement. Second Language Research 16, 2:
Schumann, J. H. 1979: The acquisition of English negation by speakers of Spanish: a review of the literature, in R. W. Andersen, ed. The acquisition and use of Spanish and English as first and second languages. Washington, DC: TESOL. Pp
Schwartz, B. D. and R. A. Sprouse. 1994: Word order and nominative Case in nonnative language acquisition: a longitudinal study of (L1 Turkish) German interlanguage, in T. Hoekstra and B. D. Schwartz, eds. Language acquisition studies in generative grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pp
Schwartz, B. D. and R. A. Sprouse. 1996: L2 cognitive states and the 'full transfer/full access' model. Second Language Research 12, 1:

28. Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten
Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten. 1994: Direct access to X'-theory: evidence from Korean and Turkish adults learning German., in T. Hoekstra and B. D. Schwartz, eds. Language acquisition studies in generative grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten. 1996: Gradual development of L2 phrase structure. Second Language Research 12, 1: 7-39.
Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten. 1998: Functional categories and related mechanisms in child second language acquisition, in S. Flynn, G. Martohardjono and W. O'neil, eds. The generative study of second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Wexler, K. and M. R. Manzini. 1987: Parameters and learnability in binding theory, in T. Roeper and E. Williams, eds. Parameter setting. Dordrecht: Reidel. Pp
Zobl, H. 1982: A direction for contrastive analysis: the comparative study of developmental sequences. TESOL Quarterly 16, 2: