Defends the idea that language is a unique, genetically underwritten "module of the mind" and considers consequences such a stance holds for the psycholinguistic study of nonnative language acquisition. Supports the position that language, as conceived within the tradition of generative grammar, is unlike other types of cognition and its basis is…

Data from responses to a grammaticality judgement test by 26 learners of English as a second language at two proficiency levels were used to investigate syntactic acquisition. Four syntactic structures were examined. Results suggest that less proficient subjects use syntactic strategies, while more proficient learners use semantic-based…