L2 development Adapted from Franceschina (2004)

What do we study when we study (L2) development? Developmental sequences Mechanisms that cause these sequences (  transition theories)

What are the sequences of L2 development? NB: It is important to separate rate and route of development when analysing developmental data. Example: Morpheme order studies (Dulay and Burt, 1973, 1974; Bailey, Madden and Krashen, 1974)

Dulay and Burt (1974)

The acquisition of question formation Pienemann, Johnston and Brindley (1988) Example: 1. A dog? 2. The boys throw the shoes? 3. What the dog are playing? Is the picture has two planets on top? 4. Where is the sun? 5. How do you say [proche]? 6. It ’ s better, isn ’ t it? Why can ’ t you go? Can you tell me what the date is today?

The acquisition of negation Schumann (1979) Example: 1. No bicycle. No have any sand. I no like it. 2. He don ’ t like it. I don ’ t can sing. 3. You can not go there. He was not happy. She don ’ t like rice. 4. It doesn ’ t work. We didn ’ t have supper. I didn ’ t went there.

L1 vs. L2 developmental sequences Some similarities and some differences Example: Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982), Meisel, Clahsen and Pienemann (1981)

Dulay and Burt (1974)

Adult vs child L2 development They are quite similar, although some differences have been found in rate and route of development of different age groups Example: Compare study by Dulay and Burt (1974) to that of Bailey Madden and Krashen (1974)

*Dulay and Burt (1974) ** Bailey et al. (1974)

L1 effects on L2 development Rate of development Dulay and Burt (1974) on grammatical morphemes Schumann (1982) on negation Gilbert and Orlovic (1975) on articles Keller-Cohen (1978) on yes/no questions Route of development Zobl (1982) on articles

Context of acquisition effects on L2 development Virtually no effects in terms of route of development Dulay and Burt (1973) Pienemann (1989) Pica (1983) Perkins and Larsen-Freeman (1975) Some effects of instruction on rate of acquisition Pienemann (1989)

Dulay and Burt (1973)

Methodological issues How should one measure language development? - Emergence criterion - Mastery (accuracy) criterion

Explaining developmental sequences According to Gregg (1996), developmental sequences can be explained as: – Environmental – Reductive – Teleological – Psycholinguistic

Theories of L2 development (a.k.a. transition theories) 1. General learning principles (non-modular) 2. Modular learning mechanisms

1. Non-modular theories Based on general learning principles Example: - hypothesis testing - automaticity - inferencing, etc. LA= acquisition of a complex cognitive skill

2. Modular theories UG-based Example: Subset Principle (Wexler and Manzini, 1987) Other Example: Communicative Competence Theory (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990)

Subset Principle (e.g., Wexler and Manzini, 1987) Children select initially the smallest language compatible with the input, i.e., they do not select a language which go beyond the available input input of additional positive evidence larger grammars

Communicative language competence (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990)

Reading Hawkins, R. 2001: Second Language Syntax. A generative introduction. Oxford: Blackwell. (Chapter 2)