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Pearl, Lisa – Language Learning and Development, 2022
Poverty of the stimulus has been at the heart of ferocious and tear-filled debates at the nexus of psychology, linguistics, and philosophy for decades. This review is intended as a guide for readers without a formal linguistics or philosophy background, focusing on what poverty of the stimulus is and how it's been interpreted, which is…
Descriptors: Language Acquisition, Learning Processes, Syntax, Semantics
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Manning, Alan D.; Parker, Frank – Language Sciences, 1989
Discusses the numerical distribution of the six logically possible orders of the Subject (S), Object (O), and Verb (V) across world languages. It is argued that the semantic relations of S, O, and V are best characterized as three concentric regions; S contained in O and O contained in V. (29 references) (Author/VWL)
Descriptors: Language Universals, Linguistic Theory, Semantics, Syntax
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Gass, Susan – Language Learning, 1984
Reviews literature on language transfer and language universals. Defines language universals as those linguistic elements which are common to all languages. Discusses language transfer and language universals as interacting phenomena. Concludes that language universals serve as an overall guiding principle in second language acquisition,…
Descriptors: Interference (Language), Interlanguage, Language Universals, Second Language Learning
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Lakshmanan, Usha – Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1995
Reviews recent research in universal grammar-based child second language acquisition (SLA) research, arguing that child SLA studies can better explore the role of biological factors in language acquisition and strengthen the links between SLA and linguistic theory. (129 references) (MDM)
Descriptors: Biological Influences, Children, Grammar, Language Research
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Rutherford, William E. – Language Learning, 1984
Discusses the current approaches to interlanguage syntax, focusing on the goal of finding consistency and pattern in syntactic variation. Some themes contributing to descriptive approaches include: the transition from morphosyntax acquisition studies to those of more complex syntax, the emergence of syntax from discourse, explicitness, and the…
Descriptors: Cognitive Development, Comparative Analysis, Grammar, Interlanguage
Heggie, Lorie – 1986
Grammatical theories that rely exclusively on the categorical nature of constituents to determine their syntactic behavior encounter problems when dealing with cleft construction. The ungrammaticality of such constructions is indeed syntactic in nature and can be shown to derive from a general principle of universal grammar (UG), restricting the…
Descriptors: French, Grammar, Language Universals, Language Variation
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Lipski, John M. – Hispania, 1989
An overview of contemporary Hispanic dialectology, focusing on phonological phenomena, syntax, classification schemes, and bilingual communities, demonstrates that dialectology has long ceased to be the collection of innumerable surface deviations. It is suggested that dialectology is a theoretical discipline searching for universal principles to…
Descriptors: Bilingualism, Dialect Studies, Hispanic American Culture, Language Classification
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Antinucci, Francesco; And Others – Cognition, 1979
This study presents a view of diachronic change in language which focuses on the conflicting interaction of principles determining language organization. Principles of structural and perceptual nature are in conflict in language of the Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) type, because of the relative clause construction. Theoretical and empirical evidence…
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Language Acquisition, Language Patterns, Language Universals
Keirstead, S. K. – 1986
Edward Sapir's 1921 publication, "Language, An Introduction to the Study of Speech" is interpreted for beginning students of historical and descriptive linguistics. In his book, Sapir attempts to show (1) what he thinks language is, (2) what variables occur in language due to time and place, and (3) the relationship of language and…
Descriptors: Cultural Context, Descriptive Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics, Dialects
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Braidi, Susan M. – Language Learning, 1995
Reviews research findings on second-language (L2) interaction from the perspective of syntactic development. The article argues that better understanding of the role of negotiated interaction in L2 syntactic development requires examining the specific grammatical structures in interaction guided by the criteria of relevance, availability,…
Descriptors: College Students, Discourse Analysis, English (Second Language), Grammar