Evidence for parameter-sensitive acquisition : a contribution to the domain-specific versus central processes debate

Abstract

Much current work on L2 acquisition is defined by the hypothesis that adult learners embark on the acquisition task with a language faculty whose structure is significantly less modular that than of the L₁ learner. The domain-specific system, which has available to it the principles and conditions of Universal Grammar, has been replaced by content-neutral, central processes and the learner's L₁ as the principal means by which an L2 can be internalized. An important corollary of this hypothesis is that acquisition will be piecemeal and will not evidence the effects associated with parameter setting.

In this paper we attempt to demonstrate that adult L2 acquisition is module - and parameter-sensitive. The focus of the inquiry falls on the acquisition of the principle of structural government and the English language value of the agreement parameter by Japanese-speaking learners. Although the data supporting the claim come primarily from production, their analyses furnish compelling evidence that central processing, as it is currently understood, cannot account for the way attributes of these parametric choices cohere together.