Rex A. Sprouse

L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model

This article is a defence of the Full Transfer/Full Access (FT/FA) model. FT/FA hypothesizes that the initial state of L2 acquisition is the final state of L1 acquisition (Full Transfer) and that failure to assign a representation to input data will force subsequent restructurings, drawing from options of UG (Full Access). We illustrate the FT/FA model by reviewing our analysis of the developmental Turkish-German Interlanguage data of Schwartz and Sprouse (1994) and then turn to other data that similarly receive straightforward accounts under FT/FA. We also consider two other competing hypotheses, both of which accept Full Access but not Full Transfer: the Minimal Trees hypothesis (no transfer of functional categories) of Vainikka and Young-Scholten (1994; 1996) and the Weak Transfer hypothesis (no transfer of the values associated with functional categories) of Eubank (1993/94). We provide an example of (extremely robust) L2 acquisition data that highlight the inadequacy of the Minimal Trees hypothesis in regard to stages of Interlanguage subsequent to the L2 initial state. As for Weak Transfer, we show that the morphosyntactic empirical foundations which drive the entire approach are flawed; hence the Weak Transfer hypothesis remains without motivation. Finally, we consider several conceptual issues relating to transfer. These all argue that the FT/FA model provides the most coherent picture of the L2 initial cognitive state. In short, FT/FA embodies the most suitable programme for understanding comparative Interlanguage development.

Mental design and (second) language epistemology: adjectival restrictions of wh-quantifiers and tense in English-French interlanguage

This study addresses the issue of second language (L2) epistemology assuming Chomsky’s (1995) discussion of the place of Universal Grammar (UG) in mental design: i.e., the optimal solution to the mental design problem for language in the sense of Minimalist theory. Aspects of interpretation of continuous and discontinuous interrogatives of the form qui de AP (‘who (of) AP’) in first language and L2 acquisition appear to follow from principles of economy in mental design and language-dependent hypotheses. We argue that such knowledge is guaranteed to arise in the absence of relevant input only if a grammar is a realization of language-dependent hypotheses and basic principles of grammar, but crucially not if it consists of a set of (derivative) grammatical theorems not constrained by principles of optimal design.

The Interpretation of Quantification at a Distance in English-French Interlanguage: Domain Specificity and Second-Language Acquisition

In this article, we report results of an interpretive task showing that both native speakers of French and English-speaking classroom learners of French exhibit knowledge of the event sensitivity associated with quantification at a distance (QAD). We argue that such knowledge seems reliably acquirable only if both first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) acquisition are subject to domain-specific constraints. We consider two sources for such domain-specific knowledge: the native grammar and Universal Grammar. We also consider the acquisition of the interpretive properties of QAD under domain-general learning in which syntax is a categorial extension of interpretive operations to linguistic categories. Without syntax-specific computational principles restricting the application of such operations, it appears that, given the nature of the input, domain-general assumptions do not guarantee that the QAD word order maps to the interpretation it actually receives. We argue that in both L1 and L2 acquisition of French, the interpretation of QAD is constrained by (on the most parsimonious account, the same) domain-specific principles because in both cases the input the language acquirer receives grossly under-determines the grammatical knowledge attained. This suggests that syntax-specific computational principles must restrict the hypothesis space.

Direct mapping of acoustics to phonology: On the lexical encoding of front rounded vowels in L1 English– L2 French acquisition

It is well known that adult US-English-speaking learners of French experience difficulties acquiring high /y/–/u/ and mid /œ/–/ɔ/ front vs. back rounded vowel contrasts in French. This study examines the acquisition of these French vowel contrasts at two levels: phonetic categorization and lexical representations. An ABX categorization task (for details, see Section IV) revealed that both advanced and intermediate learners categorized /œ/ vs. /ɔ/ and /y/ vs. /u/ differently from native speakers of French, although performance on the /y/–/u/ contrast was more accurate than on the /œ/–/ɔ/ contrast in all contexts. On a lexical decision task with repetition priming, advanced learners and native speakers produced no (spurious) response time (RT) facilitations for /y/–/u/ and /œ/–/ɔ/ minimal pairs; however, in intermediate learners, the decision for a word containing /y/ was speeded by hearing an otherwise identical word containing /u/ (and vice versa), suggesting that /u/ and /y/ are not distinguished in lexical representations. Thus, while it appears that advanced learners encoded the /y/–/u/ and /œ/–/ɔ/ contrasts in the phonological representations of lexical items, they gained no significant benefit on the categorization task. This dissociation between phonological representations and phonetic categorization challenges common assumptions about their relationship and supports a novel approach we label ‘direct mapping from acoustics to phonology’ (DMAP).

Interlanguage A-bar dependencies: binding construals, null prepositions and Universal Grammar

This article argues that the ‘null prep’ phenomenon discussed by Klein (1990; 1993; 1995) and Jourdain (1996) is a special case of a more general phenomenon in second language acquisition: the reliance on the A-bar binding strategy discussed by Rizzi (1990) and Cinque (1990). This strategy is employed even where both the L1 and the target language rely (primarily) on movement analyses. We present an analysis of additional English–French interlanguage data, complementing our analysis of Kleins and Jourdains data. We argue that apparent categorial mismatches in A-bar chains may result from Preposition Incorporation. Although both movement analyses and binding construals are squarely within the UG-constrained hypothesis space, we suggest that learners may be driven to (nonmovement) binding construals to account for A-bar dependencies for reasons associated with online computational complexity, under the assumption that a nonmovement construal derived by Merge alone is less costly than one derived by Move (Chomsky, 1995).

Review article: The invisibility of SLA theory in mainstream creole linguistics

This review article argues that contemporary mainstream second language acquisition research has extremely little, if any, impact on current scholarship in creole linguistics. After a promise of an active synergy between the two subfields 30 years ago, genuine engagement slowed to a virtual stop by the mid-1980s as both fields continued to develop on their separate paths. It is suggested that part of this diffusion is related to the historical orientation of creole linguistics as opposed to the psychological orientation of second language acquisition research. Three books by leading creole scholars are then considered, each representing one of the three major schools of thought in contemporary creole linguistics. It is found that despite the inherent interest and value of each of the volumes, none seriously engages with current second language acquisition research.

Emergent knowledge of a universal phonological principle in the L2 acquisition of vowel harmony in Turkish: A ‘four’-fold poverty of the stimulus in L2 acquisition:

A significant body of theoretically motivated research has addressed the role of Universal Grammar (UG) in the nonnative acquisition of morphosyntax and properties of the syntax–semantics interface, but very little research has addressed the role of phonological principles of UG in nonnative language acquisition. Turkish has a regular and pervasive system of vowel harmony for which classroom second language (L2) learners receive explicit instruction and abundant input; however, there are also cases of non-canonical vowel harmony in Turkish, for which classroom learners receive no instruction and rather little input. In this study, we show that English–Turkish L2ers come to exhibit sensitivity to the ‘No Crossing Constraint’ of UG (Goldsmith, 1976; Hammond, 1988) when calculating non-canonical vowel harmony in the context of underlyingly pre-specified non-velarized laterals (i.e. ‘light’ [l]), despite the poverty of the stimulus and potentially misleading effects of classroom instruction and standard Turkish orthography. We argue that this supports the view that nonnative phonological development is guided by (at least one principle of) UG.

Category formation and lexical encoding of a new contrast.

The question whether category formation is a prerequisite for U.S.‐English learners of French to encode a non‐native contrast in lexical representations is investigated, looking at front [y‐œ] and back [u‐ɔ] rounded vowels. An ABX categorization experiment revealed no group difference between advanced (N=18) and inexperienced learners (N=18). Both made significantly more errors than French controls (p<0.01) on the [u‐y] contrast, despite a good global discrimination (15% error). The possibility that minimal pairs of difficult contrasts (e.g., sourd [sur] deaf vs sur [syr] sure) are stored as homophones was tested in a lexical decision task with repetition priming. French words and non‐words were paired with either themselves (repetition) or a minimal‐pair‐counterpart (minimal pair) in a 260 item list. Correct RTs were measured for each item. Given a comparable RT‐advantage on the repetition and the minimal pair condition, merged lexical representations were assumed. Advanced learners, like native speakers...