Rex A. Sprouse
- Professor, Second Language Studies and Germanic Studies
Education:
- Ph.D. 1989 Germanic linguistics, Princeton University
- M.A. 1983 Germanic linguistics, Princeton University
- B.A. 1979 Comparative Literature and German, Hiram College
Contact Information
rsprouse@indiana.edu
office: (812) 855-3248; cell: (812) 272-3332
Research Interests
Second language acquisition, structure and history of the languages of Western Europe (Germanic, Romance, Celtic), syntactic theory, language contact
Personal Statement:
The primary goal of my research is to gain a better understanding of the adult second language paradox: Why is that adults exposed to a nonnative language develop systems of linguistic knowledge of a startlingly rich and complex nature, including properties for which there is little or no evidence in the input, while still (in a large percentage of cases) experiencing significant difficulty in the acquisition and use of relatively “simple” features of word choice and form? I am best known in second language studies for proposing (together with Bonnie D. Schwartz, University of Hawaii) the Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis and for pioneering (together with Laurent Dekydtspotter, Indiana University) research on the syntax-semantics interface in English-French interlanguage. I am currently investigating a re-conceptualization of Full Transfer in terms of relexification/relabeling in the sense that Claire Lefebvre (Université du Québec ŕ Montréal) has used these terms to describe creole genesis. I am also considering ways in which the Language Instinct becomes “blunted” over the course of the life span, even though the fundamental architectures of grammars and processing mechanisms remain untouched.
Additional topics that have captured my interest over the years include case and agreement in German and Icelandic, perfect auxiliary selection in Romance and Germanic, the comparative correlative construction in German, the syntax of ditransitive verbs in the Germanic languages, and the development of tag questions in Welsh.
Courses Recently Taught:
- Contemporary Austria
- English Phonology for Teaching and Learning
- Introduction to German Syntax
- Language Evolution, Variation, and Change in Central Europe
- Second Language Acquisition
- Second Language Syntax
Book
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Rex A. Sprouse & Audrey Liljestrand (eds.) (2005), Proceedings of Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA) 7, Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Journal Articles & Book Chapters
Sprouse, Rex A. (in press) The invisibility of SLA theory in mainstream creole linguistics. Second Language Research 26, 1.
Rottet, Kevin & Rex A. Sprouse (2008) Tag questions in Welsh, Diachronica 25: 10-53.
Scwartz, Bonnie D. & Rex A. Sprouse (2007) Linear sequencing strategies or UG-defined hierarchical structures in L2 acquisition? A reply to Meisel. In Simin Karimi, Vida Samiian & Wendy Wilkins, (eds.), Phrasal and Clausal Architecture: Syntactic Derivation and Interpretation: In Honor of Joseph E. Emonds (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 101), Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, pp. 295-318.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Bruce Anderson & Rex A. Sprouse (2007) Syntax-semantics interface. In Philadelphia, John Benjamins, pp. 75-102.
Sprouse, Rex A. (2006) Full Transfer and Relexification: Second Language acquisition and creole genesis. In Clair Lefebvre, Christine Jourdan & Lydia White (eds.), L2 Acquisition and Creole Geneis: Dialogues (Language Acquisition & Language Disorders, 42), Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, pp. 169-181.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Bonnie D. Schwartz, Rex A. Sprouse & Audrey Liljestrand (2005) Evidence for the C-domain in early Interlanguage. In Susan Foster-Cohen, María del Pilar García-Mayo & Jasone Cenoz (eds.), EuroSLA Yearbook 5, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 7-34.
Schwartz, Bonnie D., Laurent Dekydtspotter & Rex A. Sprouse (2003) Putting out fire with gasoline: What the L2 acquisition of argument structure tells us about L2 epistemology. In Lars-Olof Delsing, Cecilia Falk, Gunlög, Josefsson, and Hálldor Á Sigurősson (eds.), Grammatik i fokus / Grammar in Focus, Festschrift for Christer Platzak 18 November 2003, Vol. II, Lund, Sweden: Department of Scandinavian Languages, pp. 305-313.
Roehrs, Dorian, Rex A. Sprouse & Joachim Wermter (2002) The difference between desto and umso: Some mysteries of the German Comparative Correlative. Interdisciplinary Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Semiotic Analysis 7: 15-25.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Rex A. Sprouse & Kimberly A.B. Swanson (2001) Reflexes of the mental architecture in second language acquisition: The interpretation of discontinuous combien extractions in English-French interlanguage. Language Acquisition 9: 175-227.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent & Rex A. Sprouse (2001) Mental design and (second) language epistemology: Adjectival restrictions of wh-quantifiers and tense in English-French interlanguage. Second Language Research 17: 1-35.
Schwartz, Bonnie D. & Rex A. Sprouse (2000) When syntactic theories evolve: Consequences for L2 acquisition research. In John Archibald (ed.), Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory, Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 156-186.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Rex A. Sprouse & Rachel Thyre (1999/2000) The interpretation of quantification at a distance in English-French interlanguage: Domain-specificity and second language acquisition. Language Acquisition 8: 265-320.
Sprouse, Rex A. & Barbara Vance (1999) An explanation for the decline of null pronouns in certain Germanic and Romance languages. In Michel DeGraff (ed.), Language Creation and Language Change: Creolization, Diachrony, and Development, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 257-284.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Rex A. Sprouse & Bruce Anderson (1998) Interlanguage A-bar dependencies: Binding construals, null prepositions, and Universal Grammar. Second Language Research 14: 341-358.
Dekydtspotter, Laurent, Rex A. Sprouse & Bruce Anderson (1997) The interpretive interface in L2 acquisition: The process-result distinction in English-French interlanguage grammars. Language Acquisition 6: 297-332.
Schwartz, Bonnie D. & Rex A. Sprouse (1996) L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research 12: 40-72.
Schwartz, Bonnie D. & Rex A. Sprouse (1994) Word order and nominative case in non-native language acquisition: A longitudinal study of (L1 Turkish) German interlanguage. In Teun Hoekstra & Bonnie D. Schwartz (eds.), Language Acquisition Studies in Generative Grammar: Papers in Honor of Kenneth Wexler from the 1991 GLOW Workshops (Language Acquisition & Language Disorders, vol. 8), Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 317-368.
Service to the Field
- Cymdeithas Madog (The Welsh Studies Institute of North America, whose primary function is to organize an annual one-week intensive Welsh language course in North America) (Board of Directors: 1998-2004; Vice-President: 2001-2002).
- www.yourDictionary.com, Advisory Council of Experts (2000-present).
- Editorial board, Second Language Research (2000-present).
- Linguistics Senior Advisory Panel, National Science Foundation (2001-2002).
- Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Literary Criticism, and Linguistics Advisory Panel, National Endowment for the Humanities (2002).
- Task Force on Endangered Languages. National Science Foundation-sponsored task force seeking to identify increased funding sources for the documentation and preservation of endangered languages (2003).
- Editorial board, Language Acquisition (2004-present).
