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Syntactic Markedness and Language Acquisition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Irene Mazurkewich
Irene Mazurkewich
Affiliation:
Concordia University
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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the role played by linguistic universals in second language acquisition. Research reported here focuses on the acquisition of dative structures and dative questions in a passive context in English by French and Inuit (Eskimo) students. Data were also elicited from native English-speaking students to serve as the norm. The data are interpreted within the theory of markedness and core grammar, as well as Case theory. The results of the testing, showing that unmarked forms are acquired before marked ones, are consistent with the predictions made by the theory of markedness and the property of adjacency which is crucial for Case assignment.

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 15 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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