Second-Language Acquisition and the Computational Paradigm*

The central claim of the cognitive science paradigm is that the mind/brain can be thought of as an information-processing device. Classical theories require explicitness about the representations in which knowledge is encoded because processes are denned as algorithms computing over them. In much current second-language acquisition (SLA) research, there is talk of “process” and “processing” without talk of representation or, conversely, proposals about representation with no clarity about how structures are exploited during parsing or production. To accept this state of affairs is not to take the paradigm seriously. I offer an analysis of gender attribution in French L1 and French L2 acquisition to show how one can develop explicit models of acquisition, blending together the findings of linguistics and experimental psycholinguistics.

[1]  B. Mclaughlin,et al.  RESTRUCTURING OR AUTOMATICITY? READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE , 1986 .

[2]  B. Mclaughlin,et al.  SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: AN INFORMATION-PROCESSING PERSPECTIVE† , 1983 .

[3]  R. Jackendoff.  Topic...comment , 1988 .

[4]  Lydia White,et al.  Markedness and Parameter Setting: Some Implications for a Theory of Adult Second Language Acquisition , 1986 .

[5]  C. A. Ferguson,et al.  WORDS AND SOUNDS IN EARLY LANGUAGE ACQUISITION , 1975 .

[6]  E. Williams.  Argument Structure and Morphology , 1981 .

[7]  Fred R. Eckman.  MARKEDNESS AND THE CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS HYPOTHESIS , 1977 .

[8]  E. Bialystok.  On the relationship between knowing and using linguistic forms1 , 1982 .

[9]  Jürgen M. Meisel.  Two first languages : early grammatical development in bilingual children , 1990 .

[10]  E. Rosch,et al.  Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[11]  W. Lambert,et al.  The French Speaker's Skill with Grammatical Gender: An Example of Rule-Governed Behavior , 1977 .

[12]  A. E. Hieke.  The Resolution of Dynamic Speech in L2 Listening , 1987 .

[13]  R. Fink.  French adjective morphophonemic patterns: their generalization and representation , 1985 .

[14]  Ellen Bialystok,et al.  Factors in the Growth of Linguistic Awareness. , 1986 .

[15]  V. Fromkin.  The Lexicon: Evidence from Acquired Dyslexia , 1987 .

[16]  Y. Levy.  It's frogs all the way down , 1983, Cognition.

[17]  D M Baer,et al.  An experimental analysis of some procedures to teach priming and reinforcement skills to preschool teachers. , 1978, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[18]  Irene Mazurkewich,et al.  THE ACQUISITION OF THE DATIVE ALTERNATION BY SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND LINGUISTIC THEORY , 1984 .

[19]  J. Giacobbe,et al.  Learners' Hypotheses for the Acquisition of Lexis , 1986, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[20]  J. Morin.  Prédicats théoriques et données externes: syntaxe diachronique , 1988, Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique.

[21]  Wouter Hulstijn,et al.  GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AS A FUNCTION OF PROCESSING CONSTRAINTS AND EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE , 1984 .

[22]  Merrill Swain,et al.  THE USE OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH CLOZE TESTS IN A BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM EVALUATION: VALIDITY AND ERROR ANALYSIS1 , 1977 .

[23]  Marie E. Surridge.  Genre grammatical et dérivation lexicale en français , 1986, Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique.

[24]  Gabriele Kasper,et al.  Processes and Strategies in Foreign Language Learning and Communication. , 1980 .

[25]  M. Garrett.  Processes in language production , 1988 .

[26]  C. Fowler,et al.  Relations among regular and irregular morphologically related words in the lexicon as revealed by repetition priming , 1985, Memory & cognition.

[27]  Victoria A. Fromkin,et al.  Linguistics: The Cambridge Survey: The mental lexicon , 1988 .

[28]  William E. Rutherford,et al.  MARKEDNESS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION1 , 1982 .

[29]  B. MacWhinney.  The Acquisition Of Morphophonology , 1978 .