From Data to Theory: the Over‐Representation of Linguistic Knowledge in SLA

Abstract

This article deals with the over-representation of syntactic knowledge in L2 learner data. In early L2 grammars, multimorphemic sequences which go well beyond learners' grammatical competence are very common. Influential theories of the L2 initial state have failed to take proper account of this phenomenon, claiming the apparent presence of, e.g., finite verb forms, wh questions and clitics, as evidence for functional projections from the start of L2 acquisition. However, data from early learners show that these properties are not present outside chunks initially, and that early grammars consist of lexical projections and formulaic sequences, showing no evidence of functional categories.

Fórmulas lingüísticas en la producción escrita de aprendices de inglés (l2)

“…Myles (2004) states that there is a large body of evidence in child L2 both instructed and naturalistic acquisition that shows that chunks are prominent in the early stages because L2 learners use shortcuts in order to bypass the lengthy processes of the acquisition of morphosyntax and processing skills (2004: 155), and this is precisely what will become evident in the present study. Yet and according to the author, the correct productions of beginners do not necessarily mean that they have acquired the syntactic representations of the target language.…”

“…In her article, Myles (2004) suggests that in the early stages of the learning of a language, there is no semantic structure in the student's productions, but semantic mappings. For her when the students start learning a second language, their first stage of development is to associate semantic content with words or formulaic sequences.…”

EFL Learners’ Grammatical Awareness through Accumulating Formulaic Sequences of Morphological Structure (-ing)

“…Additionally, FS serves as a language slot (e.g., get X, draw X on the Y) until beginning learners catch up with grammar rules taught by rote learning. As Myles (2004) L2 uttered by the 16 beginners who learn English and French at the age of 7-9 and 9-11 in the classroom where they utilize formulaic sequences regarding 'multimorphemic sequences'…chunks do not become discarded: they remain grammatically advanced until the grammar catches up, and it is this process of resolving the tension between grammatically advanced chunks and the current grammar which drives the learning process forward. (p. 152) Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the 13-year-old students participating in the present study would demonstrate their grammatical sensitivity in terms of adhering to linguistic features, awkwardness of incorrect word order, and so on.…”

Formulaic Sequence(fs) Cannot Be an Umbrella Term in Sla

“…These sequences might or might not be formulaic in the language, but this is irrelevant here; what we are investigating is not how L2 learners appropriate or not externally defined FSs, but how chunking processes operate in L2 learning. This is crucial to understand L2 development (Ellis, 2012;Myles, 2004).…”