PARAMETER SETTING IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Abstract

PARAMETER SETTING IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. Dalila Ayoun. New York: Continuum, 2003. Pp. x + 212. $110.00 cloth.This book presents an overview of the parameter setting theory of learnability in first (L1) and second (L2) language acquisition within the generative linguistic framework. It also attempts to challenge and refine common assumptions underlying the model. The book comprises five central chapters as well as short introductory and concluding chapters. The introductory chapter summarizes the general aim of the book and the specific aims of the chapters to follow. In chapter 2, Ayoun presents historical background on the concept of parameter throughout different versions of generative linguistics and distinguishes the standard notion of parameter from the notions of associated clusters of structures, microparameters (referring to structures), and macroparameters (which apply to a family of typologically different languages). This chapter also reviews the concept of parameter setting for language changes, creole formation, computational linguistics, and neurolinguistics, ending with a brief discussion of Universal Grammar and the Critical Period Hypothesis. In brief, this chapter argues that the parameter setting approach is a model worthy of further development and refinement, capable of explaining and predicting a wide range of phenomena in linguistic theory and its applications despite misunderstandings and lack of clarity in the field.