Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This volume explores how a second language is acquired and what learners must do in order to achieve proficiency. The hardback edition is a collection of original essays that approaches second language acquisition from a linguistic rather than a sociological, psychological, or purely pedagogical perspective. A wide range of viewpoints and approaches is represented. However, all authors agree on the fundamental importance of linguistic theory in the study of second language acquisition. Few works have explored in depth how a second language is acquired and what the second language learner must do mentally to achieve proficiency in another language. The essays in this book provide an incisive analysis of these questions. For greater accessibility, the chapters are arranged topically from those covering the broad area of theories of acquisition to those focusing specifically on syntax, semantics, pragmatics, lexicon, and phonology in another language.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Part I Theories of Acquisition
• 1 Second language acquisition theory: the case for a generative perspective
• 2 What is the logical problem of foreign language learning
• Part II Syntax
• 3 Testing a proposed universal
• 4 The role of the head-initial/head-final parameter in the acquisition of English relative clauses by adult Spanish and Japanese speakers
• 5 On some properties of the 'pro-drop' parameter: looking for missing subjects in non-native Spanish
• 6 The adjacency condition on case assignment: do L2 learners observe the Subset Principle
• Part III Semantics/Pragmatics
• 7 Interlanguage and pragmatic word order
• 8 How do learners resolve linguistic conflicts
• Part IV Lexicon
• 9 Canonical typoligical structures and ergativity in English L2 acquisition
• 10 Semantic theory and L2 lexical development
• Part V Phonology
• 11 A constructivist perspective on non-native phonology
• 12 Stress assignment in interlanguage phonology: an analysis of the stress system of Spanish speakers learning English
• Index