ERIC Number: EJ752056
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 26
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0267-6583
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Learnability in the Second Language Acquisition of Semantics: A Bidirectional Study of a Semantic Parameter
Slabakova, Roumyana
Second Language Research, v22 n4 p498-523 2006
The study investigates the relationship between input, UG (Universal Grammar) parameter values, and the native language in the acquisition of a purely semantic property that is superficially unrelated to its syntactic trigger, The Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi, 1991; 1994; 1996; 2001; 2005). On the one hand, English and Italian bare nouns have identical syntactic form and distribution, but differ in available interpretations. On the other hand, proper names display cross-linguistic constant meaning but variable word order. Variation in this respect can be accounted for by a parameter that is set to one value in English and another one in Italian. A bidirectional study of the two properties was conducted. Individual results calculated with the native speaker accuracy as the cut-off point for successful acquisition indicate that parametric restructuring is attested in both learning directions. In the English [.arrowright] Italian direction, the lack of one native interpretation in the target language (a contracting of the grammar) is achieved in the absence of negative evidence, in a Poverty of the Stimulus situation. In both directions, the semantic property is acquired based on input and/or positive evidence for the syntactic side of the parameter.
Descriptors: Semantics, Word Order, Nouns, Native Speakers, Language Research, Second Language Learning, Linguistic Input, English (Second Language), Grammar, Language Universals, Italian, English, Contrastive Linguistics, Linguistic Theory
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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