Second Language Acquisition Flashcards
What is the principle in UG?
The principles refer to highly abstract properties of grammar. They are invariant and apply to all natural language.
What are parameters in UG?
The parameters permit a finite set of options which individual languages draw upon and which this define how languages differ.
What is the Natural Order hypothesis?
The Natural Order hypothesis States that the acquisition of grammatical structure proceeds in a predictable order.
What is the input hypothesis?
The input hypothesis States that second language (L2) learners move along the developmental continuum by receiving comprehensible input just beyond the learners current L2 competence, in terms of its syntactic complexity.
What is the Partial access hypothesis?
This hypothesis states that some sub modules of UG are more or less accessible to the L2 learner. This is backed up by the fact that some principles and parameters seem unproblematic to reset.
What are the fundamental differences between L1 and L2 language acquisition?
1) L1: children normally achieve perfect mastery of their first language
L2: this is not the case for L2 learners.
2) L1: generally children achieve native competence
L2: native like competence is rarely achieved.
3) L1: little variation in degree of success or route
L2: learners vary in overall success and route
What is fossilisation?
Fossilisation is the point where the learner of an L2 cannot retain any more linguistic knowledge.
This is almost unheard of in L1 acquisition.
What are the characteristics of foreign language learning?
1) lack of success
2) general failure
3) variation in success, course and strategy
4) variation in goals
5) fossilisation
6) indeterminate intuitions
7) importance of instructions
What is universal grammar (UG)?
All humans are endowed with a universal set of principles and parameters which control the shape human languages can take.
