In this article I shall attempt to characterize some of the stresses and strains experienced by researchers in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), both intellectual and personal. I shall offer my perspective on how we are responding, and how we should be responding, to those stresses and strains. Together with this discussion of academic politics, I will interweave two research lines I consider important, research lines unique to the field of SLA, which should have impact both on linguistic theory making and on appropriate pedagogical decisions involving language classrooms.
References
1.
Berwick, R.1982: Locality principles and the acquisition of syntactic knowledge . MIT doctoral dissertation.
2.
Birdsong, D.1989: Metalinguistic performance and interlinguistic competence . Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
3.
— 1991: On the notion of 'critical period' in UG/L2 theory: a response to Flynn and Manuel. In Eubenk, L. , editor, Point counterpoint: Universal Grammar in the second language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins .
4.
Bley-Vroman, R., Ioup, G. and Felix, S.1988: The accessibility of Universal Grammar in adult language learning. Second Language Research4 (1), 1-32.
5.
Borer, H. and Wexler, K.1987: The maturation of syntax. In Roeper, T. and Williams, E., editors, Parameter setting. Dordrecht: Reidel.
6.
Chomsky, N.1981: Principles and parameters in syntactic theory. In Hornstein, N. and Lightfoot, D., editors, Explanation in linguistics. London: Longman.
7.
— 1985: Knowledge of language: its nature, origins and use. New York: Praeger.
8.
Clahsen, H. and Muysken, P.1986: The accessibility of Universal Grammar to adult and child learners. A study of the acquisition of German word order. Second Language Research2, 93-119.
9.
Felix, S.1985: UG-generated knowledge in adult second language acquisition . In Flynn, S. and O'Neill, W., editors, Linguistic theory in second language acquisition. Dordrecht: Reidel.
10.
Flynn, S.1988: Nature of development in L2 acquisition and implications for theories of language acquisition in general. In Flynn, S. and O'Neill, W., editors, Linguistic theory in second language acquisition. Dordrecht : Kluwer.
11.
— 1989: The role of the head-initial/head-final parameter in the acquisition of English relative clauses by adult Spanish and Japanese speakers . In Gass, S. and Schachter, J., editors, Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
12.
Johnson, J. and Newport, E.1989: Critical period effects on second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology21, 60-99.
13.
Kean, M.L.1988: The relation between linguistic theory and second language acquisition: a biological perspective. In Pankhurst, J., Sharwood Smith, M. and Van Buren, P., editors, Learnability and second languages: a book of readings. Dordrecht: Foris.
14.
Lee, D.1990: Do adult learners have access to UG? Paper presented to the 1990 Second Language Research Forum, USC, Los Angeles.
15.
Lenneberg, E.1967: Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.
16.
Lightbown, P. and Spada, N.1990: Focus-on-form and corrective feedback in communicative language teaching: effects on second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition12 (4), 429-48.
17.
Long, M.1990: Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition12, 251-85.
18.
Pinker, S.1984: Language learnability and language development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
19.
Schachter, J.1988: Accounting for universals and maturation. Paper presented to the Boston University Conference on Child Language Development.
20.
1990: On the issue of completeness in second language acquisition . Second Language Research6 (2), 93-124.
21.
Tomasello, M. and Herron, C.1989: Feedback for language transfer errors. Studies in Second Language Acquisition11, 385-95.
22.
White, L.1989: Universal Grammar and second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
23.
— 1991: The verb-movement parameter in second language acquisition . Language Acquisition1 (4), 337-60.
24.
White, L., Spada, N., Lightbown, P. and Ranta, L.1990: Consciousness raising and syntactic accuracy in L2 acquisition . Paper presented to the 10th Second Language Research Forum, Eugene, Oreg.
25.
White, L., Travis, L. and Maclachlan, A.1992: The acquisition of wh-question formation by Malagasy learners of English: evidence for Universal Grammar. Unpublished manuscript.
26.
Williams, E.1987: Introduction. In Roeper, T. and Williams, E., editors, Parameter setting. Dordrecht: Reidel .
