UG-accessibility And Language Transfer In Second Language Acquisition

Universal Grammar and first language transfer remains the two possible explanations to the intricacy of second language acquisition. With respect to UG, the universally accepted position is that, UG plays an exclusive role in the process of children's first language acquisition. However, it is on the extent to which UG determines the second language learners' interlanguage that linguists' arguments diverge. As to the role of UG in the process of second language acquisition, there exist three hypotheses, namely, the no-access hypothesis, the partial-access hypothesis and the full-access hypothesis. The first postulation claims that child Ll acquisition and adult L2 acquisition are fundamentally different cognitive processes, the former deriving from the language faculty (the cognitive processes specific to language learning), the latter determined by nonlinguistic processes, in other words, the full repertoire of UG is not available to second language learners; the second position maintains that UG knowledge is not totally unavailable, but only Ll-instantiated UG remains available to the adult second language learners; the last view proposes that UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition, that is, for the second language learners, the full repertoire of UG is accessible. The role of the first language in the learning of a second language is an important issue in second language acquisition research and different stands have been taken during the past a few decades. Along with the achievements accumulated with regard to this particular concept, three prominent proposals stand out. The first, no-transfer position, suggests that first language properties are absent inthe second language learners' interlangauge; the second, partial-transfer argues that parts rather than all of the Ll grammar transfer and define the L2 initial state grammar; the third, full-transfer advocates that, the Ll final state grammar makes up the L2 initial state grammar. Empirical studies thus far investigated indicate that neither of the two (Universal Grammar and first language transfer) can give a full explanation to the whole picture of second language acquisition. In order to gain deeper insight into this question, we have to view it in a new light. Proponents of generative approach to SLA believe that the combination of UG and language transfer can give more convincing explanation to the process. From the perspective of UG theory, the notion of first language transfer has been reexamined. Generative researchers interpret transfer differently in terms of the extent to which universal grammar constrains second language acquisition. In this context, based on three hypotheses (no-access, partial-access, and full-access) regarding the role of UG in second language acquisition, evaluations of the role of the first language are presented. Evidence is provided to dispute the truth of either of the first two hypotheses, moreover, evidence consistent with the third hypothesis, full-access/full-transfer, has been found when carefully examine the existence or absence of the knowledge of functional categories and structure-dependency in second language learners' target grammar (interlangauge). Experiment has been designed for the purpose of testing the subjects' knowledge of functional categories and structure-dependency in their interlanguage grammar, indicating the role of UG and first language transfer in second language acquisition. Elicited imitation tasks and grammaticality judgment tests weregiven to 33 Chinese adolescent learners of English (beginners), and 32 Chinese adult learners of English (low intermediate learners). The elicited imitation tasks focus on the knowledge of functional categories, while the grammaticality judgment tests concentrate on the knowledge of structure-dependency. The results show that there is no significant difference between the two groups, indicating that both beginners and intermediate learners possess the knowledge of functional categories and structure-dependency, which in turn suggests that UG is av...