Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:29:46.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Universal Grammar: Hypothesis space or grammar selection procedures? Is UG affected by Critical Periods?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1998

Gita Martohardjono ,
Samuel David Epstein  and
Suzanne Flynn
Gita Martohardjono
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queens College, Flushing, NY 11367, Ph.D. and Program in Linguistics, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10036 [email protected]
Samuel David Epstein
Affiliation:
Program in Linguistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285 [email protected]
Suzanne Flynn
Affiliation:
Foreign Languages and Literature, Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Universal Grammar (UG) can be interpreted as a constraint on the form of possible grammars (hypothesis space) or as a constraint on acquisition strategies (selection procedures). In this response to Herschensohn we reiterate the position outlined in Epstein et al. (1996a, r), that in the evaluation of L2 acquisition as a UG- constrained process the former (possible grammars/ knowledge states) is critical, not the latter. Selection procedures, on the other hand, are important in that they may have a bearing on development in language acquisition. We raise the possibility that differences in first and second language acquisition pertaining to both attainment of the end-state and course of development may derive from differences in selection procedures. We further suggest that for these reasons age effects in the attainment of nativelike proficiency must necessarily be separated from UG effects.

Type
Authors' Response
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , August 1998 , pp. 612 - 614
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)