Effects of Universal

Grammar in Second
Language Acquisition
Prepared by
Teo
Yee mun
Abee

How UG works in SLA:

Two different views 1. The nature and availability of UG are the same in
L1 and L2 acquisition.
2. Adult L2 learners, like children, neither need nor
benefit from error correction and metalinguistic
information. These things change only the
superficial appearance of language performance
and do not affect the underlying competence of
the new language (e.g., Krashens monitor
model).

How UG works in SLA:

Two
1.

2.

different views
UG may be present and available to L2
learners, but its exact nature has been altered
by the prior acquisition of the first language.
L2 learners need to be given some explicit
information
about what is not grammatical
in the L2. Otherwise, they may assume that
some structures of the L1 have equivalents in
the L2 when, in fact, they do not.

Competence vs. Performance

Competence:
It refers to the knowledge which underlies
our ability to use language.
Performance:
It refers to the way a person actually uses
language in listening, speaking, reading,
and writing. Performance is subject to
variations due to inattention, anxiety, or
fatigue whereas competence (at least for
the mature native speaker) is more stable.

Competence vs. Performance

SLA researchers from the UG perspective

(innatism) are more interested in the language
competence (i.e., knowledge of complex syntax)
of advanced learners rather than in the simple
language of early stage learners.

Their investigations often involve comparing the

judgments of grammaticality made by L2 and
L1 learners, rather than observations of actual
language performance (i.e., use of language).