LINGUIST List 14.1106

Mon Apr 14 2003

Confs: Second Lang Acquisition/CA USA

Editor for this issue: Marie Klopfenstein <marielinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. petrova, Conference on Second Language Acquisition

Conference on Second Language Acquisition 

Date: 02-MAY-03 - 03-MAY-03
Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
Contact: Milena Petrova
Contact Email: petrovausc.edu 
Meeting URL: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~semconf

Linguistic Sub-field: Language Acquisition

Meeting Description:

The Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, will
host a two-day conference on Second Language Acquisition, May 2-3,
2003, funded by the Ahmanson Foundation, and organized around the
theme of ''Knowledge of a Second Language Epistemological and
Empirical Issues''. 

http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~semconf/

May 2-3, 2003
Mudd Hall of Philosophy 
University of Southern California-University Park Campus 
Los Angeles, CA 90089 

Invited Speakers: 
John Archibald (University of Calgary) 
David Birdsong (University of Texas) 
Elissa Newport (University of Rochester) 
Bonnie Schwartz (University of Hawaii) 
Antonella Sorace (University of Edinburgh) 
Lydia White (McGill University) 

The intended audience is one consisting of linguists, cognitive
psychologists, language educators, and philosophers interested in
cognitive and epistemological issues. The conference will consist of
six invited presentations, three on the first day, three on the
second, and each followed by commentary.

The kinds of topics to be addressed are L2 research and the critical
period, L2 epistemological issues, L2 knowledge and the brain, L2
research: syntax and morphology, L2 research: phonology, etc. Related
questions are those such as What kind of knowledge is ''knowledge of a
second language''? Is L2 knowledge epistemologically the same as, or
different from, L1 knowledge? How would one go about deciding?
Crucially, is there a so-called ''critical period'' of language
development, whose existence, per force, would require postulating L2
knowledge acquired post-puberty as fundamentally different from L1
knowledge? What about arguments rooted in the poverty-of-stimulus
issue and are they applicable to L2 knowledge? How might L2 knowledge
be represented neurologically in the brain?

Registration is free to all those in attendance. However, we will
greatly appreciate it if you let us know whether you plan to attend
and when. Please email Milena Petrova: petrovausc.edu