Papers and books/chapters that we will use will be listed here. If these are readings you’re being asked to do, they can be left outside my office (621 Commonwealth Ave., outside room 105) for you to borrow, photocopy, and return in a timely manner. See also the Readings page. This is an old list, I hope to update it properly soon.
Readings mentioned in the syllabus:
Babyonyshev, M., R. Fein, J. Ganger, D. Pesetsky, K. Wexler (2001). The maturation of grammatical principles: Evidence from Russian unaccusatives. Linguistic Inquiry 32(1): 1-44.
Borer, H. & K. Wexler (1987). The maturation of syntax. In T. Roeper & E. Williams (eds.), Parameter setting. D. Reidel.
Borer, H. & K. Wexler (1992). Bi-unique relations and tha maturation of grammatical principles. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 10:147-189.
Chien, Y.-C. & K. Wexler (1990). Children’s knowledge of locality conditions in binding as evidence for the modularity of syntax and pragmatics. Language Acquisition 1:225-295.
Crain, Stephen, and Paul Pietroski (2001). Nature, nurture and Universal Grammar. Linguistics & Philosophy 24:139-186.
Crain, Stephen, and Rosalind Thornton (1998). Investigations in Universal Grammar: A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Deen, Kamil Ud (2003). “Underspecified verb forms and subject omission in Nairobi Swahili”. Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development 27. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Gordon, Peter (1996). The truth-value judgment task. In Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, and Helen Smith Cairns (eds.), Methods for assessing children’s syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 211-231.
Gualmini, Andrea, Sarah Hulsey, Valentine Hacquard, and Danny Fox (2008). The question-answer requirement for scope assignment. Natural Language Semantics 16:205-237.
Guasti, Maria Teresa (2002). Language Acquistion: The Growth of Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Guasti, Maria Teresa, Rosalind Thornton, and Ken Wexler (1995). BUCLD paper.
Kanno, Kazue (1996). “The status of a nonparameterized principle in the L2 initial state.” Language Acquisition 5:317-32.
Hagstrom, Paul (2002). “Implications of Child Errors for the Syntax of Negation in Korean,” Journal of East Asian Linguistics 11(3):211-242.
Hale, Mark (2001). “The A-Chain Deficit Hypothesis and linguistic maturation: Methodological and empirical considerations.” Manuscript.
Hsu, Jennifer Ryan, and Louis Michael Hsu (1996). Issues in designing research and evaluating data pertaining to children’s syntactic knowledge. In Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, and Helen Smith Cairns (eds.), Methods for assessing children’s syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 303-341.
Hulsey, Sarah, Valentine Hacquard, Danny Fox, and Andrea Gualmini (2004). “The Question-Answer Requirement and Scope Assignment.” In Aniko Csirmaz, Andrea Gualmini, and Andrew Nevins (eds.), MITWPL 48: Plato’s Problems: Papers on Language Acquisition. Cambridge, MA. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. 71-90.
Hyams, Nina, and Kenneth Wexler (1993). “On the grammatical basis of null subjects in child language.” Linguistic Inquiry 24:421-459.
Ionin, Tania, Heejeong Ko, and Ken Wexler (2004). Article semantics in L2 acquisition: The role of specificity. Language Acquisition 12(1):3-69.
Ko, Heejeong, Alex Perovic, Tania Ionin, and Ken Wexler (2008). Semantic universals and variation in L2 article choice. GASLA paper.
Legendre, Géraldine, Paul Hagstrom, Anne Vainikka, and Marina Todorova (2002). “Partial Constraint Ordering in Child French Syntax.” Language Acquisition 10(3):189-227.
Legendre, Géraldine, Paul Hagstrom, Anne Vainikka, and Marina Todorova (2000). “Evidence for syntactic competition in the acquisition of tense and agreement in child French,” in the Proceedings of the 36th annual Chicago Linguistic Society meeting. Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society, 431-443.
Lust, Barbara (2006). Textbook. CUP.
MacLaughlin, Dawn (1998). The acquisition of the morphosyntax of English reflexives by non-native speakers.” In M.-L. Beck (ed.), Morphology and its interfaces in secon dlanguage knowledge. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 195-226.
McDaniel, Dana, and Helen Smith Cairns (1996). Eliciting judgments of grammaticality and reference. In Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, and Helen Smith Cairns (eds.), Methods for assessing children’s syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 233-254.
Myles, Florence (2005). Review article: Interlanguage corpora and second language acquisition research. Second Language Research 21(4):373-391.
Prévost, Philippe, and Lydia White (2000). “Missing Surface Inflection or Impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement.” Second Language Research 16(2):103-133.
Rice, Mabel L., and Kenneth Wexler (1996). Toward tense as a clinical marker of Specific Language Impairment in English-speaking children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research. 39:1239-1257.
Schaeffer, Jeannette, Galina Gordishevsky, Galit Hadar, and Aviya Hacohen (2001). Grammatical and pragmatic properties of subjects in English SLI. Paper presented at GALA.
Schütze, Carson & Kenneth Wexler (1996). “Subject Case Licensing and English Root Infinitives”. In A. Stringfellow et al. (eds)., Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development 20, 670-681. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Schwartz, Bonnie D. (1993). “On explicit and negative data effecting and affecting competence and linguistic behavior.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 15:147-163.
Schwartz, Bonnie D., and Rex A. Sprouse (1996). “L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Acess model.” Second Language Research 12(1):40-72.
Snyder, William (2007). Child language: The parametric approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sorace, Antonella (1996). The use of acceptability judgments in second language acquisition research. In V. T. Bhatia and W. Ritchie (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Academic Press, pp. 375-409.
Sorace, Antonella (2000). BUCLD paper on attrition.
Stromswold, Karin (1996). Analyzing children’s spontaneous speech. In Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, and Helen Smith Cairns (eds.), Methods for assessing children’s syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 23-53.
Thornton, Rosalind (1996). Elicited production. In Dana McDaniel, Cecile McKee, and Helen Smith Cairns (eds.), Methods for assessing children’s syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 77-102.
Thornton, Rosalind, and Kenneth Wexler (1999). Principle B, VP ellipsis, and interpretation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten (1996a). Gradual development of L2 phrase structure. Second Language Research 12:7-39.
Vainikka, A. and M. Young-Scholten (1996b). The early stages in adult L2 syntax: Additional evidence from Romance speakers. Second Language Research 12:140-176.
Wexler, Kenneth (2003). Maximal trouble. Presented at CUNY, to be published soon I think.
Wexler, Kenneth (2004). “Theory of Phasal Development: Perfection in Child Grammar .” In Aniko Csirmaz, Andrea Gualmini, and Andrew Nevins (eds.), MITWPL 48: Plato’s Problems: Papers on Language Acquisition. Cambridge, MA. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. 159-209.
White, Lydia (2003). Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
White, Lydia, Alyona Belikova, Paul Hagstrom, Tanja Kupisch, Önew Özçelik (2012). Restrictions on definiteness in second language acquisition. Affirmative and negative existentials in the L2 English of Turkish and Russian speakers. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 2(1):54–89.
A miscellaneous list of references not specifically mentioned on the syllabus, but related (this list is always under construction):
Bennett, S. & L. Progovac (1998). Morphological status of reflexives in second language acquisition. In S. Flynn, G. Martohardjono, & W. O’Neil (eds.), The generative study of second language acquisition (pp. 187-214). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bloom, P. (1993). Grammatical continuity in language development: The case of subjectless sentences. Linguistic Inquiry 24:721-734.
Crain, S. and P. Pietroski (2001). Nature, nurture and universal grammar. Linguistics & Philosophy 24: 139-186.
Crain, S. and R. Thornton (1998). Investigations in Universal Grammar: A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Doughty, C. (1991). Second langage instruction does make a difference: Evidence from an empirical study of SL relativization. Studies in second language acquisition 13:431-469.
Epstein, S., S. Flynn & G. Martohardjono (1996). Second language acquisition: theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 19:677-738. (Preprint version available online).
Gibson, E., and K. Wexler (1993). Triggers. Linguistic Inquiry.
Guilfoyle, E., & M. Noonan (1992). Functional categories and language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de Linguistique 37(2):241-272.
Hamann, Cornelia (2002). From syntax to discourse: Pronominal clitics, null subjects and infinitives in child language. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Hamann, Cornelia (2011). Binding and coreference: Views from child language. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Hyams, Nina (2011). Missing subjects in early child language. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Johnson, J., and E. Newport (1991). Critical period effects on universal properties of language: The status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language. Cognition 39:215-258.
Long, Michael (1990). Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in second language acquisition 12:251-285.
Marcus, G. (1993). Negative evidence in language acquisition. Cognition 46:53-85.
Musolino, Julien (2011). Studying language acquisition through the prism of isomorphism. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
O’Grady, W. (1997). Syntactic development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Phillip, William (2011). Acquiring knowledge of universal quantification. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Poeppel, D. and K. Wexler (1993). The full competence hypothesis of clause structure in early German. Language 69:1-33.
Radford, A. (1992). Comments on Roeper and de Villiers. In J. Weissenborn, H. Goodluck, and T. Roeper (eds.), Theoretical issues in language acquisition: Continuity and change in development (pp. 237-248). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Radford, A. (1995). Phrase structure and functional categories. In P. Fletcher and B. MacWhinney (eds.), Handbook of child language (pp. 483-507). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Roeper, T. and de Villiers, J. (1992). Ordered Decisions in the Acquisition of Wh-questions. In J. Weissenborn, H. Goodluck, and T. Roeper (eds.), Theoretical issues in language acquisition: Continuity and change in development (pp. 191-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Roeper, Tom, and Jill de Villiers (2011). The acquisition path for wh-questions. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Schwartz, B. D. (1993). On explicit and negative data affecting competence and linguistic behavior. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 15:147-163.
Schwartz, B. D. & Gubala-Ryzak, M. (1992). Learnability and grammar reorganization in L2A: against negative evidence causing the unlearning of verb movement. Second Language Research 8:1-38.
Schwartz, B. D. and Sprouse, R. A. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research 12:40-72.
Sugisaki, Koji, and Yukio Otsu (2011). Universal grammar and the acquisition of Japanese syntax. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Thomas, M. (1995). Acquisition of the Japanese reflexive zibun and movement of anaphors in Logical Form. Second Language Research 11:206-234.
Ud Deen, Kamil (2011). The acquisition of the passive. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
Wang, Q., D. Lillo-Martin, C. Best, and A. Levitt (1992). Null subject versus null object: Some evidence from the acquisition of Chinese and English. Language Acquisition 2:221-254.
Wexler, K. (1998). Very early parameter setting and the unique checking constraint: A new explanation of the optional infinitive stage. Lingua 106:23-79.
Wexler, Ken (2011). Grammatical computation in the optional infinitive stage. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.
White, L. (1991). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: Some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research 7:133-161.
White, L. (1992). On triggering data in L2 acquisition: A reply to Schwartz and Gubala-Ryzak. Second Language Research 8:120-137.
White, L. & F. Genesee (1996). How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition. Second Language Research 12(3):233-265.
White, L. & A. Juffs (1998). Constraints on wh-movement in two different contexts of nonnative language acquisition: Competence and processing. In S. Flynn, G. Martohardjono, & W. O’Neil (eds.), The generative study of second language acquisition (pp. 111-129). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Yang, Charles (1999). “A selectionist model of language development,” in Sabrina Billings, John Boyle, and Aaron Griffith (eds.), CLS 35: The main session (The Proceedings from the Main Session of the Chicago Linguistic Society’s Thirty-fifth Meeting). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Yang, Charles (2011). Computational models of language acquisition. In J. de Villiers and T. Roeper (eds.), Handbook of generative approaches to language acquisition. Springer.