Abstract
This is a longitudinal case study of two Farsi-speaking children learning English: ‘Bernard’ and ‘Melissa’, who were 7;4 and 8;4 at the start of data collection. The research deals with the presence or absence of functional categories (CP),in our case Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as well as their production rate in early stages of interlanguage development of the child second language (L2) acquisition of syntax. Some studies in the field of child second language acquisition regarding the production of functional categories (CP) are discussed. Examining data collected from the children’s spontaneous speech, the researcher’s diaries and translation and other tasks over a period of 20 months, the competing claims of the two most prominent hypotheses about early L2 grammars are tested: Vainikka& Young-Scholten’s (1996) Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis and Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996). Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis. The conclusion is reached that Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as three functional categories are absent in early stages of interlanguage development of the child L2acquisition.Keywords: Functional categories, Child L2 acquisition, Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis, Full transfer/fullaccess hypothesis, Yes/no questions and Wh-questions, Embedded clauses
Highlights
There has been considerable debate during the last several decades regarding child and adult second language acquisition of morpho-syntax in a naturalistic environment to find the source of knowledge responsible for the developmental stages observed in the data provided from the learners in those studies
This study addresses the status of CP in L2 acquisition through looking at Yes/no questions, W-h questions, and embedded clauses focusing on Vainikka & Young-Scholten’s (V & Y-S) (1996)Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis and Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996) Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (FT/FA) to see if these claims which are based on adult and child L2 acquisition, respectively, are supported by the data obtained in the present study
Let us start the discussion with respect to the FT/FA hypothesis which claims that CP is present in the initial states of L2 acquisition and the properties are transferred from the L1
Summary
There has been considerable debate during the last several decades regarding child and adult second language acquisition of morpho-syntax in a naturalistic environment to find the source of knowledge responsible for the developmental stages observed in the data provided from the learners in those studies. While all these hypotheses of initial second language (L2) acquisition claim that the initial state is a specific grammar involving the first language (L1) grammar, the existence of functional categories in the learners’ initial state productions, the extent of L1 involvement in the process of L2 acquisition, the reason behind the omission of verbal inflection and use of nonfinite forms in finite contexts, and the morphology/syntax relationship are among those issues left unresolved. This study addresses the status of CP in L2 acquisition through looking at Yes/no questions, W-h questions, and embedded clauses focusing on Vainikka & Young-Scholten’s (V & Y-S) (1996)Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis and Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996) Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (FT/FA) to see if these claims which are based on adult and child L2 acquisition, respectively, are supported by the data obtained in the present study
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