Esta pesquisa investiga o papel da língua materna (L1) e da Gramática Universal (GU) na aquisição do inglês por falantes de português brasileiro através da análise de três fenômenos fonológicos: a relação entre sílaba e acento, que é totalmente diferente nas duas línguas e se dá através da marcação de parâmetros métricos; a retração de acento, que ocorre de maneira muito semelhante no inglês e no português e representa uma regra a ser transferida da L1 para a L2; e a assimilação de vozeamento, que existe em ambas as línguas, mas de maneira diferente e, portanto, trata-se de uma regra a ser modificada. Esta investigação permite compreender a influência da GU e da L1 na aquisição de L2 porque, caso os resultados mostrassem que a relação entre a sílaba e acento fosse adquirida com mais facilidade, isso seria uma evidência de que o estado inicial da aquisição é caracterizado pela GU, que permitiu a marcação do parâmetro do acento do inglês. Caso a retração de acento fosse adquirida com mais facilidade, isso significaria que o estado inicial da aquisição é caracterizado pela gramática da L1 e que haveria uma transferência (positiva) dessa regra para a L2. Por fim, caso a assimilação de vozeamento fosse adquirida com mais facilidade, isso significaria que nem a L1 e nem a GU foram fatores determinantes no processo de aquisição desses informantes. A amostra é composta por 30 falantes brasileiros de inglês divididos em três níveis de proficiência (básico, intermediário e avançado), além de 7 falantes nativos, que constituíram o grupo de controle. Para a coleta foram utilizados 3 experimentos, um para cada fenômeno, totalizando 9.248 dados. Os dados referentes à assimilação de vozeamento foram transcritos a partir da verificação acústica do vozeamento do morfema -s. A classificação dos dados referentes à sílaba e acento e à retração de acento, por sua vez, foi realizada em duas etapas: uma verificação perceptual e uma verificação acústica baseada nos principais correlatos do acento nas duas línguas: pitch e duração. Os resultados indicaram que, dentre os três fenômenos analisados, a regra de retração de acento, que se dá através da transferência da L1, e a relação entre sílaba e acento, que se dá pela marcação do parâmetro da L2, foram adquiridas com mais facilidade do que a regra de assimilação de vozeamento, que não tem apoio nem na L1 e nem na GU. Esses resultados são evidência de que o processo de aquisição fonológica de segunda língua é influenciado tanto pela Gramática Universal, que permite a marcação paramétrica a partir do input da língua alvo, quanto pela língua materna, que se manifesta na L2 através de transferência positiva ou negativa, o que faz com que regras que não contam com apoio nem da GU e nem da L1 sejam os fenômenos mais difíceis de serem adquiridos. / This research investigates the role of the first language (L1) and Universal Grammar (UG) in the acquisition of English by speakers of Brazilian Portuguese through the analysis of three phonological phenomena: the relation between syllable and stress, which is totally different in both languages and is given by parameter settings; stress shift, which is very similar in English and Portuguese and represents a rule to be transferred from the L1 to the target-language; and voicing assimilation, which exists in both languages, but in a different way, and, therefore, is a rule to be modified. This investigation allows us to understand the influence of UG and L1 on the acquisition of a second language because, if the results showed that the relation between syllable and stress was the easiest phenomenon to acquire, this would mean that the initial state of the acquisition is characterized by UG, which enabled the English stress parameter setting. If stress shift were more easily acquired, this would mean that the initial state of the acquisition is characterized by the grammar of the L1 and that there would be a (positive) transfer of that rule to the second language. Finally, if voicing assimilation was the easiest rule to acquire, this would mean that neither the L1 nor UG were determining factors in the acquisition process of these subjects. The sample is composed of 30 Brazilian speakers of English divided into three proficiency levels (basic, intermediate and advanced), in addition to 7 native speakers, who constituted the control group. We used 3 experiments for data collection, one for each phenomenon, totalizing 9,248 data. The data referring to voicing assimilation were transcribed based on the acoustic verification of the morpheme -s. The classification of the data related to syllable and stress and stress shift ocurred in two stages: a perceptual verification and an acoustic verification based on the main correlates of stress in the two languages: pitch and duration. The results indicated that stress shift, which occurs through the transfer of the L1, and the relation between syllable and stress, which is given by parameter settings, were more easily acquired than the voicing assimilation rule, which has no support in the L1 and in UG. These results are evidence that second language phonological acquisition is influenced both by Universal Grammar, which allows parameter (re)settings, and by first language, which means that rules that are not supported neither by GU nor L1 are the most difficult phenomena to be acquired.

This thesis investigates the second language acquisition of the English article system by Turkish learners in order to find out the role of certain semantic universals of the Universal Grammar during the acquisition process. More specifically, the purpose is to see whether or not L1 Turkish learners of English fluctuate between two semantic notions namely / specificity and definiteness, and the effect of this fluctuation on acquisition. 120 students from three groups of learners at different proficiency levels (40 elementary, 40 intermediate and 40 upper &ndash / intermediate students) were tested. Data collection instrument, a forced-choice elicitation task is used. The task consists of 40 short and contextualized dialogues. The target sentence in each dialogue is missing an article and learners were asked to fill the gap with an appropriate article / a/an, the or &Oslash / on the bases of their understanding of the proceeding context. Dialogues in the task belong to four different contexts / i.e. definite/specific, definite/non-specific, indefinite/specific and indefinite/non-specific. Each context has 10 dialogues with four different contexts that are randomized. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17 packet program (descriptive analysis and one-way ANOVA). The results showed that intermediate level learners exhibited fluctuation between definiteness and specificity to a great extent in (+definite/-specific) and (-definite/+specific) contexts. Elementary level learners were more accurate in these contexts exhibiting article omission errors in definite contexts. Overall, despite certain unexpected results, upper intermediate level students were quite successful in article assignment in defined contexts. This revealed that there is a positive correlation between article system acquisition and proficiency.

Résumé L’hypothèse de la période critique, émise par Lenneberg dans les années 60, affirmait qu’un enfant pouvait acquérir une langue seconde, sans difficulté, environ jusqu’à l’âge de la puberté. Après cette période, l’apprentissage d’un autre idiome serait difficile, dû à la latéralisation du cerveau. En même temps, les travaux de Chomsky enrichirent cette théorie avec l’idée de la Grammaire universelle, laquelle établit que nous possédons tous, dès la naissance, les éléments linguistiques universels qui nous permettent d’acquérir une langue maternelle. Tant que la Grammaire universelle est active, notre langue maternelle se développe et c’est pourquoi, si nous apprenons une autre langue pendant cette période, l’acquisition de celle-ci se produit de manière presque naturelle. Pour cette raison, plus une langue est apprise tôt, plus elle sera maîtrisée avec succès. En nous appuyant sur ce cadre théorique ainsi que sur l’Analyse d’erreurs, outil qui permet au professeur de prédire quelques erreurs avec la finalité de créer des stratégies d’apprentissage d’une langue seconde, nous tenterons de vérifier dans le présent travail si l’âge est un facteur qui influence positivement ou négativement l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde, l’espagnol dans ce cas-ci, par le biais de l’analyse comparative des prépositions a/ en dans deux groupes d’étudiants différents. / Abstract According to Leeneberg's critical period hypothesis from the sixties, a child can acquire a second language approximately until puberty, for afterwards the lateralization of the brain takes place and the acquisition of second language becomes more difficult. Further on, Chomsky’s research would contribute to this theory with the Universal Grammar idea or the inborn universal linguistic elements that we use in order to acquire mother tongue. While the Universal Grammar is still on, the already acquired Mother Tongue continues to develop. As a result, the acquisition of another language during this period becomes a natural process, leading to the conclusion that the earlier a child starts learning a second language, the better its acquisition will be. Therefore and for the purpose of this research, a theoretical framework and the error analysis, the tool allowing the teacher to predict some error in order to create the adequate language strategies for effective second language acquisition, are used. I will try to verify the age-factor influence positively or negatively in the acquisition of a second language, in this special case the Spanish language, by means of the comparative analysis of the a/ en prepositional pair with two different groups of apprentices.

Résumé L’hypothèse de la période critique, émise par Lenneberg dans les années 60, affirmait qu’un enfant pouvait acquérir une langue seconde, sans difficulté, environ jusqu’à l’âge de la puberté. Après cette période, l’apprentissage d’un autre idiome serait difficile, dû à la latéralisation du cerveau. En même temps, les travaux de Chomsky enrichirent cette théorie avec l’idée de la Grammaire universelle, laquelle établit que nous possédons tous, dès la naissance, les éléments linguistiques universels qui nous permettent d’acquérir une langue maternelle. Tant que la Grammaire universelle est active, notre langue maternelle se développe et c’est pourquoi, si nous apprenons une autre langue pendant cette période, l’acquisition de celle-ci se produit de manière presque naturelle. Pour cette raison, plus une langue est apprise tôt, plus elle sera maîtrisée avec succès. En nous appuyant sur ce cadre théorique ainsi que sur l’Analyse d’erreurs, outil qui permet au professeur de prédire quelques erreurs avec la finalité de créer des stratégies d’apprentissage d’une langue seconde, nous tenterons de vérifier dans le présent travail si l’âge est un facteur qui influence positivement ou négativement l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde, l’espagnol dans ce cas-ci, par le biais de l’analyse comparative des prépositions a/ en dans deux groupes d’étudiants différents. / Abstract According to Leeneberg's critical period hypothesis from the sixties, a child can acquire a second language approximately until puberty, for afterwards the lateralization of the brain takes place and the acquisition of second language becomes more difficult. Further on, Chomsky’s research would contribute to this theory with the Universal Grammar idea or the inborn universal linguistic elements that we use in order to acquire mother tongue. While the Universal Grammar is still on, the already acquired Mother Tongue continues to develop. As a result, the acquisition of another language during this period becomes a natural process, leading to the conclusion that the earlier a child starts learning a second language, the better its acquisition will be. Therefore and for the purpose of this research, a theoretical framework and the error analysis, the tool allowing the teacher to predict some error in order to create the adequate language strategies for effective second language acquisition, are used. I will try to verify the age-factor influence positively or negatively in the acquisition of a second language, in this special case the Spanish language, by means of the comparative analysis of the a/ en prepositional pair with two different groups of apprentices.

Notre étude se propose de décrypter de façon expérimentale le parcours interprétant dans l’apprentissage d’une langue étrangère telle que le français, en remettant en cause le concept traditionnel du décodage analytique et en lui substituant celui d’anticipation. Notre hypothèse est que la compréhension d’un énoncé ne repose pas sur une addition chronologique et continue de signes mais se construit à partir de procédures invariantes d’identification du sens, de reconnaissance de structures et de schèmes universaux. Le premier chapitre pose les jalons de notre recherche en introduisant trois théories fondamentales dans l’explication possible du phénomène d’anticipation : celle de la Grammaire Universelle (Chomsky), celle des Opérations Énonciatives et Prédicatives (Culioli) et celle de la Sémantique Générale (Pottier). Nous discutons des différents éclairages qu’apportent ces théories et nous les mettons en relation avec l’objet de notre recherche. Dans le second chapitre, nous présentons les supports iconographiques à partir desquels nous avons élaboré notre expérience, lesquels présentent l’avantage d’être neutres, syntaxiquement ajustables et interprétables dans la langue maternelle des participants autant que dans la langue cible. Nous introduisons notre public chinois, ainsi que la nature de l’expérience, qui consiste à convertir des énoncés oraux en séquences iconographiques. Nous présentons également la spécificité linguistique des phrases que nous utilisons en les analysant à l’aide des théories introduites dans notre première partie. Notre troisième chapitre analyse les productions des 14 sujets, en tenant compte de la nature des icônes sélectionnées, l’ordre de leur sélection et la disposition dans laquelle elles ont été placées. Ces trois paramètres permettent de révéler différents schèmes d’anticipation tout en appuyant la théorie selon laquelle la compréhension est un processus de reconstruction, à partir de savoirs conceptuels, cognitifs et linguistiques. Le dernier chapitre résume l’ensemble de l’expérience, synthétise nos conclusions et les confronte avec les théories portant sur les universaux et les invariants. Il définit également des orientations possibles dans le domaine de la didactique des langues étrangères, qui tiennent compte du concept d’anticipation / This study intends to decrypt experimentally the interpreting process in the learning of a second language such as French, by questioning the traditional concept of analytical decoding and by substituting it the principle of anticipation. Our hypothesis is that utterances are not understood through a continuous and chronological adding of signs, but is rather constructed from invariant procedures of identification of the meaning and from the recognition of structures and universal schemes. The first chapter prepares the ground for this research by introducing three essential theories which could explain the phenomenon of anticipation: the theories of Universal Grammar (Chomsky), of Enunciative and Predicative Operations (Culioli) and of General Semantics (Pottier). We discuss the various prospects brought by these theories and we relate them with the topic of our research. In the second chapter, we present the iconographic material we have conducted our experiment with, the advantages of which consist in being neutral, syntactically adjustable andinterpretable in the subjects’ native tongue as much as in the target language. We introduce the Chinese participants and the principles of our experiment, which consists in converting oral utterances to iconographic sequences. We present the linguistic features of the sentences we have used by the aid of the theories we reviewed in the first section. In our third chapter, we make the analysis of the 14 subjects’ productions by taking account of the nature of the chosen icons, the order in which they are selected and their placement in the sequences. These three parameters allow us to reveal various schemes of anticipation and to confirm the theory according to which comprehension is a process of reconstruction from conceptual, cognitive and linguistic knowledge. The last chapter sums the experiment up, summarize our conclusions and test them against the theories about language universals and invariants. It defines also some possible threads that can be followed in the field of language acquisition and which consider the role of anticipation.

Text in Afrikaans / Twee sentrale probleme word hier ondersoek, naamlik die daarstelling van 'n teoreties adekwate model om leksikale valensie te verreken en die problematiek rondom die beskrywing van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde. Die vertrekpunt is dat 'n teorie van UG lesikale valensie slegs ten dele verreken. So 'n teorie is gemoeid met die vorm van 'n konstruksie wat op LF-vlak leesbaar is. Gevolglik beskryf 'n teorie van UG valensie net in universele sintakties-kategoriale terme. In hierdie studie word die semantiese en pragmatiese komponente van 'n valensieteorie derhalwe uitgebou sodat daar 'n duideliker begrip verkry kan word van die wisselwerking tussen alle veranderlikes van valensie op 'n taalspesifieke LF-vlak. 'n Valensieteorie word op eklektiese wyse saamgestel uit verskeie ander teoriee. Die apparaat om die sintaktiese komponent van 'n valensieteorie te beskryf, word aan TGGmodelle ontleen. Die semantiese komponent van die teorie word aangevul vanuit die Konseptuele Semantiek en die pragmatiese komponent daarvan vanui t kogni ti ewe grammatikamodelle. Die interaksie tussen hierdie komponente word verreken deur teoriee van leksikalisasie, korrespondensiereels en die passing tussen konstruksies en leksikale items. Die ontleding van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde spesif iseer die omvattender anali tiese apparaat wat nodig is vir die verrekening van valensie verby die punt waarvoor 'n teorie van UG voorsiening maak. Dit blyk uit hierdie analise dat die valensie van die kategorie in 'n aantal valensieraambeskrywings vir die aparte subklasse saamgevat kan word. 'n Duidelike beeld van die universele en taalspesifiekidiosinkratiese aspekte van hierdie kategorie kan in terme van hierdie valensierame aangetoon word. 'n Verdere hipotese (die onakkusatiwiteithipotese) is dat die sintaktiese verspreiding van werkwoorde ui t hulle semantiek voorspel kan word. Hierdie hipotese word getoets aan die empiriese data van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde. Hierdie bewegingswerkwoorde word in groepe geklassifiseer na gelang van ooreenstemmende semanties-pragmatiese kenmerke. Daar word getoon dat bewegingswerkwoorde met dieself de semantiespragmatiese kenmerke dieselfde valensierame het. Valensierame is daarom op sistematiese wyse uit semanties-pragmatiese kenmerke afleibaar. Sekere fasette van valensierame word egter ook bepaal deur konvensies soos profilering, en deur bereelde interaksie met 'n basiese konstruksie se argumentstruktuur. / This thesis focuses on the development of a theoretically adequate model to account for lexical valence and to provide the detail for such a model by means of an analysis of Afrikaans verbs of motion. The thesis is a response to a theory of UG which inadequately accounts for lexical valence. A theory of UG is concerned with the universal syntactic form of a construction that is legible on LF level. It therefore describes valence in universal syntactic-categorial terms only. This thesis develops the semantic and pragmatic components of a theory of valence in order that a clearer understanding may be gained of the interaction between all the variables of valence on a language specific LF level. A theory of valence is construed eclectically from several other theories. TGG models provide the methods used to describe the syntactic component of a theory of valence. Conceptual Semantics contributes to the development of the semantic component, and models of cognitive grammar to the pragmatic component. The interaction between these components is explained by theories of lexicalisation, rules of correspondence and the fusion of constructions and lexical items. The analysis of Afrikaans verbs of motion provides the comprehensive set of analytical devices required to account for valence beyond the point of LF. From this analysis it emerges that the valence of this category can be summarized in a finite number of frames of valence for distinct classes within the category. 'n Clear understanding of the universal and language specific aspects of this category is achieved by means of these frames of valence. A further hypothesis (the unaccusativity hypothesis) posits that the syntactic distribution of verbs can be predicted from their semantics. This hypothesis is tested by means of empirical data of Afrikaans verbs of motion. These verbs are classified according to similar semantic-pragmatic features. It is shown that verbs of motion with the same semanticpragmatic features share frames of valence. These frames thus are deducible systematically from semantic-pragmatic features. Certain aspects of frames of valence, however, are determined by conventions such as profiling and the regulated interaction between verbs and constructions. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

主題-評論結構(topic-comment)在主題顯著(topic prominent)的語言(如中文)扮演十分重要的角色,尤其是在描述第二語言學習者的中介語時特別重要．但是有關研究,對於中國學生在學習英文時產生的中介語,並沒有對主題-評論結構提供全面且確切的描述．本研究旨在探討中國學生學習英文時所產生的中介語之主題-評論結構, 運用三種測驗來引出中介語—文法判定測驗, 引導寫作測驗, 及翻譯測驗．受試者包含台灣區域位於台北的三所國中挑選的94位國二生,以國一期末考英文成績分為三組．此外,並於政大語視中心挑選14位以英語為母語的外籍生作為本研究的控制組．本研究探討的四種主題-評論結構是由中英文主題結構對比中所產生的, 分別為主題省略(topic drop), 主題移前(topicalization), 主題置左(left-dislocation), 及雙主詞結構(double-subject construction)．本研究所運用的中介語之理論架構是參考三種第二外語習得理論所發展出來的, 分別為第一語言影響(L1 influence), 普遍語法(universal grammar)的存在, 以及附屬集合理論(the Subset Principle)． 研究結果顯示, 第一語言轉換(L1 transfer)在所有程度的學生的中介語當中都十分普遍, 但是普遍語法只有在程度最高的學生的中介語較為明顯．因此本研究推論中介語系統內部運作過程包含三階段, 開始為第一語言轉換, 接著是第一語言轉換及普遍語法並存, 最後階段為普遍語法． / The role that the topic-comment structure plays in a topic prominent language such as Chinese is very important when it comes to SLA learners’ interlanguage. However, the related research has not provided a comprehensive framework in describing topic structures of Chinese EFL learners’ interlanguage. The purpose of this study is to analyze the topic structures in Chinese EFL learners’ interlanguage elicited by three tasks—the grammaticality judgment task, the guided writing task, and the translation task. The subjects include 94 junior high school students chosen from three separate schools in Taipei, Taiwan, and they were divided into three proficiency levels. In addition, 14 native speakers from the language center of NCCU served as the control group. This study investigated four topic structures—topic drop, topicalization, left-dislocation, and double-subject construction—which were determined by a comparative study of Chinese and English topic structures. The current theoretical framework of interlanguage operation is developed from three SLA perspectives—L1 influence, the existence of universal grammar (UG), and the subset principle. Results indicated that L1 transfer was prevalent in all proficiency levels but UG was only obvious in the most advanced level. It was thus inferred that the internal operation of interlanguage system should include three stages—first L1 transfer, then L1 transfer and UG, and finally UG.

Text in Afrikaans / Twee sentrale probleme word hier ondersoek, naamlik die daarstelling van 'n teoreties adekwate model om leksikale valensie te verreken en die problematiek rondom die beskrywing van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde. Die vertrekpunt is dat 'n teorie van UG lesikale valensie slegs ten dele verreken. So 'n teorie is gemoeid met die vorm van 'n konstruksie wat op LF-vlak leesbaar is. Gevolglik beskryf 'n teorie van UG valensie net in universele sintakties-kategoriale terme. In hierdie studie word die semantiese en pragmatiese komponente van 'n valensieteorie derhalwe uitgebou sodat daar 'n duideliker begrip verkry kan word van die wisselwerking tussen alle veranderlikes van valensie op 'n taalspesifieke LF-vlak. 'n Valensieteorie word op eklektiese wyse saamgestel uit verskeie ander teoriee. Die apparaat om die sintaktiese komponent van 'n valensieteorie te beskryf, word aan TGGmodelle ontleen. Die semantiese komponent van die teorie word aangevul vanuit die Konseptuele Semantiek en die pragmatiese komponent daarvan vanui t kogni ti ewe grammatikamodelle. Die interaksie tussen hierdie komponente word verreken deur teoriee van leksikalisasie, korrespondensiereels en die passing tussen konstruksies en leksikale items. Die ontleding van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde spesif iseer die omvattender anali tiese apparaat wat nodig is vir die verrekening van valensie verby die punt waarvoor 'n teorie van UG voorsiening maak. Dit blyk uit hierdie analise dat die valensie van die kategorie in 'n aantal valensieraambeskrywings vir die aparte subklasse saamgevat kan word. 'n Duidelike beeld van die universele en taalspesifiekidiosinkratiese aspekte van hierdie kategorie kan in terme van hierdie valensierame aangetoon word. 'n Verdere hipotese (die onakkusatiwiteithipotese) is dat die sintaktiese verspreiding van werkwoorde ui t hulle semantiek voorspel kan word. Hierdie hipotese word getoets aan die empiriese data van Afrikaanse bewegingswerkwoorde. Hierdie bewegingswerkwoorde word in groepe geklassifiseer na gelang van ooreenstemmende semanties-pragmatiese kenmerke. Daar word getoon dat bewegingswerkwoorde met dieself de semantiespragmatiese kenmerke dieselfde valensierame het. Valensierame is daarom op sistematiese wyse uit semanties-pragmatiese kenmerke afleibaar. Sekere fasette van valensierame word egter ook bepaal deur konvensies soos profilering, en deur bereelde interaksie met 'n basiese konstruksie se argumentstruktuur. / This thesis focuses on the development of a theoretically adequate model to account for lexical valence and to provide the detail for such a model by means of an analysis of Afrikaans verbs of motion. The thesis is a response to a theory of UG which inadequately accounts for lexical valence. A theory of UG is concerned with the universal syntactic form of a construction that is legible on LF level. It therefore describes valence in universal syntactic-categorial terms only. This thesis develops the semantic and pragmatic components of a theory of valence in order that a clearer understanding may be gained of the interaction between all the variables of valence on a language specific LF level. A theory of valence is construed eclectically from several other theories. TGG models provide the methods used to describe the syntactic component of a theory of valence. Conceptual Semantics contributes to the development of the semantic component, and models of cognitive grammar to the pragmatic component. The interaction between these components is explained by theories of lexicalisation, rules of correspondence and the fusion of constructions and lexical items. The analysis of Afrikaans verbs of motion provides the comprehensive set of analytical devices required to account for valence beyond the point of LF. From this analysis it emerges that the valence of this category can be summarized in a finite number of frames of valence for distinct classes within the category. 'n Clear understanding of the universal and language specific aspects of this category is achieved by means of these frames of valence. A further hypothesis (the unaccusativity hypothesis) posits that the syntactic distribution of verbs can be predicted from their semantics. This hypothesis is tested by means of empirical data of Afrikaans verbs of motion. These verbs are classified according to similar semantic-pragmatic features. It is shown that verbs of motion with the same semanticpragmatic features share frames of valence. These frames thus are deducible systematically from semantic-pragmatic features. Certain aspects of frames of valence, however, are determined by conventions such as profiling and the regulated interaction between verbs and constructions. / Afrikaans / D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

L'étude de la Faculté des langues (FL), telle que définie par la grammaire générative, a été principalement entreprise à travers l'examen des langues adultes, l'acquisition de la langue première, l'acquisition des langues secondes et l'acquisition bilingue. Peu de travaux ont abordé la FL à partir d'une situation d'acquisition atypique, communément appelée Trouble développemental du langage (TDL). Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude de la façon dont FL est affectée par cette condition malheureuse. Le TDL est manifesté par certains jeunes enfants et adultes et peut être la cause de limitations importantes dans le développement du langage. La production et la compréhension langagières de ce groupe d'enfants sont atypiques par rapport au comportement linguistique d'autres enfants du même âge. Leur atypicité consiste en une grammaire non-cible en ce qui concerne ce qui est autorisé et ce qui est interdit dans la/les langue(s) à laquelle/auxquelles ils sont exposés. Les symptômes les plus communs, d'un point de vue morpho-syntaxique, sont (a) l'omission de morphèmes et de mots, (b) les commissions, c'est-à-dire la présence inadéquate de certains mots ou le remplacement inapproprié de morphèmes et (c) les redoublements, c'est-à-dire, l'apparition de mots ou de morphèmes dans plus de positions que celles autorisées dans la langue cible. Ces symptômes ont été pris comme l’indication que la FL est déficiente. Le résultat de cette défaillance est une grammaire développée par les enfants ayant le TDL qui est qualitativement différente de celle développée par leurs pairs typiques. Cette thèse examinera si la compétence linguistique sous-jacente des enfants DLD est déterminée par les mêmes traits, opérations et principes qui régissent le langage naturel en général. Extraites de la littérature expérimentale sur le TDL, les données pour l’analyse incluent la compréhension et la production par les enfants du TDL et concernent les domaines nominal, temporel/verbal et propositionnel. Les propositionsiii avancées pour rendre compte de ce disorder seront évaluées. Toutes proposent explicitement ou implicitement que la grammaire universelle (GU), c'est-à-dire l'ensemble des traits et opérations phonologiques, sémantiques et syntaxiques qui sous-tendent FL, est défectueuse: certains traits peuvent être absents, ou des opérations peuvent être inactives ou fonctionner par intermittence. Contrairement à ces propositions, l'hypothèse défendue ici est que la GU n'est pas affectée chez les enfants TDL. C'est-à-dire que malgré les nombreuses différences entre le TDL et l'acquisition typique du langage, la GU se révèle être similaire à un certain niveau dans les deux situations d'acquisition. Si la GU était altérée chez les enfants TDL, on s'attendrait à ce que les enfants affectés par cette condition produisent des phrases remarquablement différentes de celles produites par des enfants typiques. Plusieurs études ont révélé que les enfants DLD et leurs pairs typiques peuvent montrer des performances linguistiques similaires en termes de quantité et de type d'erreurs. De plus, les données révèlent que les énoncés TDL ne sont pas toujours erronés; lorsque tous les éléments et les mécanismes linguistiques sont présents, ils sont correctement utilisés. Ceci est considéré comme un signe que les traits syntaxiques, bien qu'ils ne soient pas toujours réalisés morpho-phonologiquement, sont présents dans les dérivations syntaxiques des enfants TDL, et que les opérations syntaxiques Fusion et Accord sont actives, tout comme dans les grammaires typiques. Enfin, l'analyse des énoncés non-cibles par les enfants TDL met en évidence une grammaire syntaxiquement normale et même une ressemblance avec des langues auxquelles ces enfants n'ont pas été exposés. La conclusion est que, malgré la non-convergence entre le TDL et la langue cible, la GU dans cette situation d'acquisition est intacte. / The study of the Faculty of Language (FL), as defined by generative grammar, has been mainly undertaken through the examination of adult language, first language acquisition, second language acquisition and bilingual acquisition. Few works have approached the FL from an atypical acquisitional situation, standardly called Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). This dissertation is devoted to the study of how FL is affected by this unfortunate condition. DLD is displayed by some young children and adults and can be the cause of significant limitations in language development. The linguistic production and comprehension by this group of children is atypical compared to the linguistic behaviour of other children of the same age. Their atypicality consists in a non-target-like grammar with regard to both what is allowed and what is disallowed in the language(s) to which they are exposed. The most common symptoms, from a morpho-syntactic point of view, are (a) omission of morphemes and words, (b) commissions, i.e., the inadequate presence of certain words or the inappropriate replacement of morphemes and (c) doublings, i.e., the appearance of words or morphemes in more positions than are allowed in the target language. These symptoms have been taken to indicate that the FL is deficient. The result of this deficiency is a grammar developed by children with DLD that is qualitatively different from that developed by their typical peers. This dissertation will consider whether or not the underlying linguistic competence of children with DLD is determined by the same features, operations and principles that regulate natural language in general. Drawn from the experimental literature on DLD, the data for analysis include comprehension and production by children with DLD and concern the nominal, the temporal/verbal and the propositional domains. The proposals that have been put forth to account for this impairment will be evaluated. All of them explicitly or implicitly propose that Universal Grammar (UG), i.e., the set of phonological, semantic and syntactic features and operations that underlie FL, is faulty: Some features can be absent, or operations can be inactive or function intermittently. Contrary to these proposals, the hypothesis defended here is that UG is not affected in DLD children. That is to say, despite the many differences between DLD and typical language acquisition, UG is revealed to be similar at a certain level in both acquisitional situations. If UG were impaired in DLD, children affected by this condition would be expected to produce sentences remarkably different from those produced by typical children. Several studies have shown that children with DLD and their typical peers can display similar linguistic performance in terms of both quantity and type of errors. Moreover, the data reveal that DLD utterances are not always erroneous; when all linguistic elements and mechanisms are present, they are correctly used. This is taken as a sign that syntactic features, while not always realized morpho-phonologically, are present in DLD syntactic derivations, and that the syntactic operations Merge and Agree are active, just as in typical grammars. Finally, the analysis of non-target utterances by children with DLD evinces a syntactically normal grammar and even a resemblance with languages to which these children have not been exposed. The conclusion is that, despite the non-convergence of DLD and the target language, UG in this acquisitional situation is intact.

The thesis deals with second language acquisition (SLA) of Czech in Russian and English students. It presents the main theories of SLA (generative and cognitive approaches) and compares them to the results of author's research into L2 acquisition of Czech morphology and syntax in speakers of two typologically and structurally different mothertongues. It shows that language transfer plays an important role in SLA and that some of the generative assumptions about SLA that are claimed to apply universally cannot be proven for Czech.