LINGUIST List 10.668

Thu May 6 1999

Books: Language Acquisition

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Paul Peranteau, Universal Grammar in Child 2nd Lang, Generative Perspectives

John Benjamins Publishing announces that the following two works are now
available in paperback:

Universal Grammar in Child Second Language Acquisition.
Null subjects and morphological uniformity.
Usha LAKSHMANAN
Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 10
US & Canada: 1 55619 247 9 / USD 35.00 (Hardcover) 1 55619 783 7 /
USD 19.95 (Paperback)
Rest of world: 90 272 2475 7 / NLG 70.00 (Hardcover) 90 272 2486 2 /
NLG 40.00 (Paperback)

This book examines child second language acquisition within the
Principles and Parameters theory of Universal Grammar
(UG). Specifically, the book focuses on null-subjects in the
developing grammars of children acquiring English as a second
language. The book provides evidence from the longitudinal speech data
of four child second language (L2) learners in order to test the
predictions of a recent theory of null-subjects, namely, the
Morphological Uniformity Principle (MUP). Lakshmanan argues that the
child L2 acquisition data offer little or no evidence in support of
the MUP's predictions regarding a developmental relation between verb
inflections and null-subjects. The evidence from these child L2 data
indicates that regardless of the status of null subjects in their
first language, child L2 learners of English hypothesize correctly
from the very beginning that English requires subjects of tensed
clauses to be obligatorily overt. The failure on the part of these
learners to obey this knowledge in certain structural contexts is the
result of perceptual factors that are unrelated to parameter
setting. The book demonstrates the value of child second language
acquisition data in evaluating specific proposals within linguistic
theory for a Universal principle.

"This volume is a welcome addition to the field of second language
acquisition research. Lakshmanan's use of second language acquisition
data to contribute to debates in linguistic theory is particularly
commendable, bolstering as it does the pivotal role second language
acquisition research can play in theoretical research. A particular
strength of the book is its serious consideration of individual
differences in language learners and it succesfully conveys the
complexity of interactions between Universal Grammar and individual
learner differences." Susan Foster-Cohen, British Institute in Paris

Generative Perspectives on Language Acquisition.
Empirical findings, theoretical considerations and crosslinguistic
comparisons.
Harald CLAHSEN (ed.)
Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 14 
US & Canada: 1 55619 777 2 / USD 115.00 (Hardcover) 1 55619 780 2 / USD
29.95 (Paperback)
Rest of world: 90 272 2480 3 / NLG 230.00 (Hardcover) 90 272 2483 8 /
NLG 60.00 (Paperback)

Against the background of the proliferation of the various
subdisciplines of language acquisition research over the past decades,
this volume aims to enhance the existing but somewhat fragile links
between language acquisition and theoretical linguistics. With regard
to previous research, the book focuses on the acquisition of syntax
and syntactic theory, specifically on Chomskyan Generative Grammar.

Contributions by: Toni Harris and Ken Wexler, Andrew Radford, Nina
Hyams, Harald Clahsen, Sonja Eisenbeiss and Martina Penke, Zvi Penner
and J\252rgen Weissenborn, J\252rgen Meisel and Maria-Jose
Ezeizabarrena, Teresa Guasti, Liliane Haegeman, Cornelia Hamann, Luigi
Rizzi and Uli Frauenfelder, Lydia White, Christer Platzack, Tom Roeper
and Martin Atkinson.

John Benjamins Publishing Co.
P O Box 27519
Philadelphia PA 19118-0519

Ph: 215 836-1200
Fax: 215 836-1204
Website: http://www.benjamins.com

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1998 Contributors