The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the null subject phenomenon in the acquisition of English by Taiwan EFL learners to see whether the participants are influenced by their L1 knowledge or UG and whether they can reset their L1 value of null subject parameter. Two experimental tasks in questionnaire, grammaticality judgment task (GJ) and paragraph translation task (PT), and one oral task, storytelling task (ST), were adopted in this study. As for the participants, in the questionnaire part the GJ and PT tasks were given to 132 EFL learners, which were divided into the lower proficiency group (n=56) and the higher proficiency group (n=76), and 15 native speakers of English as a control group. Besides, we reanalyze the data of the ST task in Lin & Wu (2005), which consisted of 20 high English proficiency participants and 20 low English proficiency participants. Overall, the main findings are summarized as follows: 1. Chinese topic constructions seem to influence profoundly on the L2A of English by EFL learners. This may imply that L2 learners acquire the L2 through L1-based knowledge. 2. The asymmetry of null subjects and null objects was found in our data across the three tasks, which suggests EFL learners treated both features differently and have difficulty in unlearning null objects. We support Kong¡¦s (2005) claim that Chinese learners are influenced by L1 topic structure but they adjust this rule to: every sentence must have an overt topic in the sentence-initial position. 3. The different judgments between matrix and embedded clauses with null subjects and null expletives may infer EFL learners do not intrinsically reset the parameter of null subjects. 4. According to our results in ST task, there seems to be several patterns which make null subjects and null objects easier to occur, such as structures with coordinate relationship or clear reference relationship. These sentence patterns prove that the EFL learners are still easier to be influenced by the discourse-oriented feature in Chinese. According to the result, we may infer that the position of Partial Access to UG probably the best answer to our research questions since it is assumed that through Partial Access to UG, L2 learners will not be able to acquire the L2 values of parameters when these differ from the L1; that is, UG is accessible but only via the setting of the L1.

abstract: Lakoff and Levinson claim they have discredited the theory of universal grammar. This dissertation discusses the possibility of a universal humor, suggesting that if universals exist in language's most playful and least rule-governed aspect then they must exist in grammar, language's least playful and most rule-governed aspect. Lakoff's and Levinson's texts are closely analyzed to demonstrate that their claims against Chomsky are not firmly supported; that their groundbreaking new theories of language, perception and cognition do not constitute data that undermines Chomskyan theory; that Levinson's theory of a universal mechanism for human interaction is no stronger than the the grammar universals that Levinson strongly rejects. It is suggested that the litmus test of culture-specific versus universal language may be its level of rhetorical density, as illustrated with humor and naming samples. It is argued that Fillmore's deep case theory, as explained by Nilsen using semantic features and pragmatic intent, has never lost its status as a linguistic universal; Chomsky's theoretical debt to Charles Fillmore may indicate that he unconsciously used Fillmore's deep case, which for Chomsky became thematic relations, without realizing that Fillmore had been the impetus for his research. It is argued that none of the theories of universality, typology or conceptual metaphor may be considered mutually exclusive. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2011

The present thesis addresses the issue as to why the double object construction (e.g., John gave Mary a book) seems to appear in certain languages but not in others. This construction has received much attention in past research in formal linguistics and has played a central role in developing our understanding of the internal structure of the VP. Previous studies generally define the construction with respect to relative linear order of the object complements of the verb and the lack of morphological markings on these objects. We show that these properties are not inherent to the construction and that consequently, the construction exists in a wider variety of languages than previously assumed, particularly French. Along the lines of Goldberg (1995, 2006), we develop a universal semantic definition of the construction, which may be used as a diagnostic to test, systematically and categorically, its presence across languages. In particular, we identify the double object construction in French as, for example, Jean a donné le livre à Marie. We then explain the cross-linguistic structural differences with a Case-driven approach. Specifically, we argue that the inherent dative Case, present in French but not in English, is responsible for the structural differences recognized between the languages. By adopting a minimalist derivation of argument structure (Chomsky 1995, 2000, 2004) and the applicative analysis (Pylkkänen 2002), we are able to determine the syntax of the construction, while eliminating the redundancies and limitations of previous accounts. We present certain resulting predictions related to the grammar, including a generalisation of Case-checking by the low applicative phrase, a syntactic position related to the direct object properties, and universal properties of the construction itself. In all, this thesis offers empirical evidence for the universality of the double object construction and Case-driven syntactic derivation.

The present thesis addresses the issue as to why the double object construction (e.g., John gave Mary a book) seems to appear in certain languages but not in others. This construction has received much attention in past research in formal linguistics and has played a central role in developing our understanding of the internal structure of the VP. Previous studies generally define the construction with respect to relative linear order of the object complements of the verb and the lack of morphological markings on these objects. We show that these properties are not inherent to the construction and that consequently, the construction exists in a wider variety of languages than previously assumed, particularly French. Along the lines of Goldberg (1995, 2006), we develop a universal semantic definition of the construction, which may be used as a diagnostic to test, systematically and categorically, its presence across languages. In particular, we identify the double object construction in French as, for example, Jean a donné le livre à Marie. We then explain the cross-linguistic structural differences with a Case-driven approach. Specifically, we argue that the inherent dative Case, present in French but not in English, is responsible for the structural differences recognized between the languages. By adopting a minimalist derivation of argument structure (Chomsky 1995, 2000, 2004) and the applicative analysis (Pylkkänen 2002), we are able to determine the syntax of the construction, while eliminating the redundancies and limitations of previous accounts. We present certain resulting predictions related to the grammar, including a generalisation of Case-checking by the low applicative phrase, a syntactic position related to the direct object properties, and universal properties of the construction itself. In all, this thesis offers empirical evidence for the universality of the double object construction and Case-driven syntactic derivation.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the appropriateness of a cognitive approach to Donald Davidson&#039 / s meaning theory. Davidson makes the bold proposal that a truth theory, modified for a natural language, may be treated as a meaning theory for that language. According to Davidson, a meaning theory is an empirical theory. Radical Interpretation is at the center of such an empirical inquiry which places restrictions on the truth theory to make it suitable as a meaning theory without appeal to semantic notions. Davidson&lsquo / s aim in presenting this bold proposal and radical interpretation is to shed light on the concept of meaning, not to define the actual semantic competence of language users. But what Davidson&lsquo / s project does not aim to define is the main thing that a cognitive approach must account for. Whether a truth theory can represent the semantic competence of language users is discussed in this work. It is concluded that, although there is no a priori reason for such a representation claim, the cognitive approach&mdash / with the right assumptions to make the claim testable&mdash / can lead to an empirical research programme.

<p>Language cannot be learned without linguistic input. Hence, the environment plays an important role in childrens’ language development. In this paper it is examined how important the environment’s role is. Two views are described: Universal Grammar and Emergentism. They are in this paper considered to represent two basic stances; the innate stance and the “non-innate” stance. The overall aim is to present evidence in favour of either Emergentism or Universal Grammar. It is achieved by a theoretical discussion and the findings from an observation. In the observational study the aim is to see if and, if so, how adults provide clues for children to develop their syntax. This is achieved by looking at target-words and how the adults use context and prosody to supply children with them. The findings show that the adults extensively use context when talking to children. The theoretical discussion together with the findings, are here found to support Emergentism, the non-innate view.</p>

This master's thesis investigated realizations of typologically marked structures (word final stops) in the interlanguages of 15 ESL learners across Arabic, Brazilian-Portuguese and Japanese first languages (L1s). In general, previous theories of markedness (see Eckman's MARKEDNESS DIFFERENTIAL HYPOTHESIS and STRUCTURAL CONFORMITY HYPOTHESIS) and transfer (such as Major's ONTOGENY MODELS) were upheld in that more marked structures proved more problematic than less marked areas. Where uniformity of modification strategies was found, OPTIMALITY THEORY was implemented to illustrate process of acquisition undertaken during interlanguage development. In an isolated speech task, participants who demonstrated acquisition of more marked structures (ie., voiced final stops) were also successful with their less marked counterparts (voiceless final stops), but not vice versa. In connected speech, more advanced participants' modifications of target structures (such as assimilation of voicing and place of articulation) were more similar to patterns exhibited by native speakers of the target language while less advanced participants' productions (ie., lack of intervocalic voicing) were more reflective of their L1. These findings support the hypothesis that interlanguages adhere to universal grammar and, thus, behave as natural languages. Finally, future directions such as potential research of L1/L2 perception issues and pedagogical implications of the study's results are explored.

A central concern of generative grammar is the relationship between hierarchy and word order, traditionally understood as two dimensions of a single syntactic representation. A related concern is directionality in the grammar. Traditional approaches posit process-neutral grammars, embodying knowledge of language, put to use with infinite facility both for production and comprehension. This has crystallized in the view of Merge as the central property of syntax, perhaps its only novel feature. A growing number of approaches explore grammars with different directionalities, often with more direct connections to performance mechanisms. This paper describes a novel model of universal grammar as a one-directional, universal parser. Mismatch between word order and interpretation order is pervasive in comprehension; in the present model, word order is language-particular and interpretation order (i.e., hierarchy) is universal. These orders are not two dimensions of a unified abstract object (e.g., precedence and dominance in a single tree); rather, both are temporal sequences, and UG is an invariant real-time procedure (based on Knuth's stack-sorting algorithm) transforming word order into hierarchical order. This shift in perspective has several desirable consequences. It collapses linearization, displacement, and composition into a single performance process. The architecture provides a novel source of brackets (labeled unambiguously and without search), which are understood not as part-whole constituency relations, but as storage and retrieval routines in parsing. It also explains why neutral word order within single syntactic cycles avoids 213-like permutations. The model identifies cycles as extended projections of lexical heads, grounding the notion of phase. This is achieved with a universal processor, dispensing with parameters. The empirical focus is word order in noun phrases. This domain provides some of the clearest evidence for 213-avoidance as a cross-linguistic word order generalization. Importantly, recursive phrase structure "bottoms out" in noun phrases, which are typically a single cycle (though further cycles may be embedded, e.g., relative clauses). By contrast, a simple transitive clause plausibly involves two cycles (vP and CP), embedding further nominal cycles. In the present theory, recursion is fundamentally distinct from structure-building within a single cycle, and different word order restrictions might emerge in larger domains like clauses.

Language cannot be learned without linguistic input. Hence, the environment plays an important role in childrens’ language development. In this paper it is examined how important the environment’s role is. Two views are described: Universal Grammar and Emergentism. They are in this paper considered to represent two basic stances; the innate stance and the “non-innate” stance. The overall aim is to present evidence in favour of either Emergentism or Universal Grammar. It is achieved by a theoretical discussion and the findings from an observation. In the observational study the aim is to see if and, if so, how adults provide clues for children to develop their syntax. This is achieved by looking at target-words and how the adults use context and prosody to supply children with them. The findings show that the adults extensively use context when talking to children. The theoretical discussion together with the findings, are here found to support Emergentism, the non-innate view.

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.