| One of the questions of interest related to learning a second language is whether speakers of a first language, such as Spanish, proceed through predictable stages in the course of learning a second language, such as English. Several studies have proposed sequences for second language acquisition of certain English language features and structures. The study explores aspects of this question in a way different from previous studies in terms of population sampled, type of data, and approach to examination of similarity of development.; Subjects for this longitudinal study were 50 native Spanish speakers, aged 11--20, enrolled in English as a Second Language classes in an urban public school system. Essays were collected over two to five year periods (total = 258). Samples were examined for similarities and differences in subjects' development in learning English primarily in relation to two measures: progress in understanding the English requirement for a word in subject position if sentences are to be judged well-formed (based on parameter setting studies by Hilles (1986) and White (1989); and the stages proposed in the Multidimensional Model (Pienemann and Johnston, 1987; Pienemann, 1989, 1998). Features of interest were coded, recorded and analyzed for similarity of development. Samples were also examined for evidence that learners were devising interim language rules, influenced both by Spanish and by English, a finding that would support the interlanguage hypothesis (Selinker, 1972, 1992).; Students developed on the average in similar ways, but individual learners' development could not be predicted on the basis of features examined in this study. The Multidimensional Model generally predicted sequences of acquisition of features it proposed, but the claim for stages of development across features was not supported. Findings supported those in other studies showing that most speakers of Spanish learning English will move from the Spanish [+]pro-drop parameter setting to the English [-]pro-drop setting. An additional finding was that [+]pro-drop persisted longer before forms of the verb be than before other verbs. One interim rule noted, supporting the interlanguage hypothesis, was learners' tendency to create non-target English forms in an effort to match Spanish's requirement for various types of agreement. |
