Clahsen's (1988) and Clahsen and Muysken's (1989) claim that
subject–verb agreement and verb-second are unrelated in the acquisition of
German second language acquisition (SLA) has met a number of counterpositions; for
example: Pienemann and Johnston (1987) and Pienemann (1988; 1998), Jordens (1988),
Eubank (1992; 1994) and Vainikka and Young-Scholten (1994; 1996). The conflicting
claims source essentially the same data. The presentation and analysis of these data
is scrutinized and a number of inconsistencies and methodological questions are
identified. The paper argues that, when it comes to underpinning theoretical claims,
more rigour in data description should be exercised.
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