The development of the grammatical system in early second language acquisition
Subtitle: the multiple constraints hypothesis
By: Anke Lenzing, University of Paderborn
Series: Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research & Teaching (PALART) -- volume 3
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company; Benjamins Publishing Company, John
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9789027203038; 9789027271693
Subjects: Second language acquisition; Study and teaching; Language arts (Early childhood); Bilingualism in children; Children; Language
Description: The Development of the Grammatical System in Early Second Language Acquisition focuses on the acquisition process of early L2 learners. It is based on the following key hypothesis: the initial mental grammatical system of L2 learners is constrained semantically, syntactically and mnemonically. This hypothesis is formalised as the Multiple Constraints Hypothesis. The empirical test of the Multiple Constraints Hypothesis is based on a large database including cross-sectional and longitudinal data from square-one ESL beginners. The study demonstrates that the postulated constraints are relaxed successively as learning progresses. The book is intended for postgraduate students as well as SLA researchers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-271) and indexes.