The Acquisition of the Verb-Subject Structure-Rule by Gastarbeiterkinder: Implications for the Teaching of German

Abstract

Second language acquisition emerged as a field of scientific endeavor during the early 1970's. The field had its roots in the revolutionary view of the nature of language as set forth by Noam Chomsky.' Chomsky's theory profoundly influenced the fields of first and second language acquisition. Second language (L2) acquisition research has utilized many of the methodological procedures and research findings of first language (L,) acquisition studies. Like L, research it involves the scientific search for indications and explanations of creative and rule-governed processes in language acquisition. Such processes stand in contrast to imitative and rote-learning processes. Furthermore, research studies in L2 acquisition resemble those in L1 acquisition in that they, too, usually emphasize either the psycholinguistic aspects or the sociolinguistic aspects of language acquisition. In reality, of course, both of these aspects of language acquisition complement and mutually influence one another. While keeping in mind this fact, it may nevertheless be desirable to emphasize either one aspect or the other for research purposes. The study presented here investigated the L2 acquisition of the verbsubject structure-rule in German by Gastarbeiterkinder. The study has a psycholinguistic emphasis. An attempt will be made to show how research in this field can have a bearing on considerations relevant to foreign language learning as well as to L2 acquisition. Psycholinguists make a distinction between L2 acquisition and foreign language learning. The essential distinguishing criterion is that of the setting in which the language is learned. If learners are learning the L2 in a country or other setting where the target language is spoken as a native language or L,, they are said to be acquiring an L2. If learners are outside such a setting, they are said to be learning aforeign language. Foreign language learning thus necessarily implies the existence of some sort of formal instructional setting. In contrast, L2 acquisition is viewed as occurring in a natural setting. While formal instruction may or may not be part of the natural setting, it is just one of the many aspects of the acquirers' total natural environment. The distinction between acquisition and learning implies that the typical student of German in the American classroom is a foreign