In recent years, an array of studies has focused on 'translationese' (i.e., unique features that manifest in translated texts, causing second language (L2) writings to be similar to translated texts but different from native language (L1) writings). This intriguing linguistic pattern has motivated scholars to investigate potential markers for…

This paper presents an analysis and comparison of the projection of Chinese "shen" and English "deep" from the spatial domain to other domains of time, sense, emotion, behavior, and society from a cognitive perspective by using the comparative and contrastive method, explaining the universality and differences of SHEN and DEEP…

This study focuses on designing an English grammar syllabus for Turkish speaking English learners, which is based on the assumption that learning English grammar will be simpler and easier for Turkish speaking learners if it is introduced in a way by which they can achieve accessibility to Universal Grammar. In this study, I analyze almost all…

This corpus study brings a second language (L2) research perspective, insights from generative grammar, and new empirical evidence to bear on a long-accepted claim in the World Englishes literature--namely, that inversion with "wh"-movement in colloquial Indian English is obligatory in embedded clauses and impossible in main clauses. It…

This paper investigates the acquisition of syntax in L2 grammars. We tested adult L2 speakers of Spanish (English L1) on the feature specification of T(ense), which is different in English and Spanish in so-called subject-to-subject raising structures. We present experimental results with the verb parecer "to seem/to appear" in different…

The general goal of this dissertation is to explore two decades-long second language (L2) acquisition issues: whether and to what extent the L2 learner's first language (L1) and Universal Grammar (UG) respectively play a role in L2 development. Targeting English verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) and "wh"-extraction out of VPE, four…

According to the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English 1999 by Biber et al. (p. 266) generic article uses are more than twice as common in academic English than in conversation or fiction. This is an area that English for Academic Purpose (EPA) textbooks and teachers would need to target more than general English teaching. This paper is…

There has been considerable progress in second language (L2) research at the syntax-semantics interface addressing how syntax can inform phrasal semantics, in terms of interpretive correlates of word order (Slabakova, 2008). This article provides evidence of a flow of information ostensibly in the opposite direction, from meaning to grammar, at…

This dissertation investigates the acquisition of oblique relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Moroccan Arabic speakers in order to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and its interaction with Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other hand.…

Special issue on "Changing Linguistics." (DD)

Explores Ritchie's research supporting the hypothesis that universal grammar principles are available to adult second language learners. It is concluded that the experimental principle is not an innate grammatical principle, that methodological problems are inherent in the experimental design, and that results are due to effects of processing…

Discusses the theoretical implications of an experimental pilot study on the acquisition of word order properties in the French spoken by Dutch native speakers. Results provide support for the universal grammar approach to second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

Examines the role of phrase-level parallelism on noun phrase number agreement and demonstrates Puerto Rican Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese exhibit more similarities than differences with regard to this constraint. Claims the phrase-level parallelism effect on noun phrase number agreement is embedded in a universal principle of linguistic use:…

To what extent does Universal Grammar (UG) constrain second language (L2) acquisition? This is not only an empirical question, but one which is currently investigable. In this context, L2 acquisition is emerging as an important new domain of psycholinguistic research. Three logical possibilities have been articulated regarding the role of UG in L2…

Examines evidence for the presence or absence of one Universal Grammar principle, subjacency, in the grammars of groups of proficient nonnative (Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Dutch) speakers of English. Results found that, although all subjects were able to correctly judge grammatical sentences, only the Dutch subjects were able to correctly judge…