ABSTRACT
The acquisition of the grammar-the morphology and syntax-of a second language (L2) lies at the heart of the study of second language acquisition (SLA) and consequently has generated, along with hundreds of studies, much heat as well as light. The study of L2 grammatical development, especially within the generative grammar tradition, proceeds from a core assumption shared by nearly all formal acquisitionists that an understanding of exactly what is to be acquired and how it is mentally represented is necessary in order to understand how it could come to be acquired (Chomsky, 1986a; Gregg, 1989, 1996). For this reason, most researchers who study L2 grammatical development in depth rely at least to some extent on highly articulated theoretical models of language form and its relation tomeaning. In actual practice, this has meant that Chomsky’s (1981) Principles and Parameters (P&P) framework, including subsequent revisions that have led to a radical theoretical overhaul known as the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 1995a, 2001), has served as the linguistic basis for much of the work done in L2 morphosyntax and syntax over the past three decades. This chapter, therefore, reviews some of the key concepts and findings resulting from research in that framework, as well as touching on some of the different directions the study of the L2 acquisition of morphosyntax has more recently taken.
