The Departments of Second Language Studies, French and Italian, Germanic Studies, and Linguistics present a lecture by
Bonnie Schwartz
On the Unfolding of Nonnative Language in Children and Adults
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
5:30 pm
Ballantine Hall 103
About the talk: Research that systematically compares child L1, child L2, and adult L2 development has significant potential to probe fundamental similarities/differences in grammar-creation capacities across these three populations. Focusing on both development and convergence, this presentation reports on one such comparison, exploring the acquisition of Korean wh-constructions.
Three experiments (elicited pronunciation; acceptability judgment; interpretation verification) test the three groups as well as adult natives. The results show that child L2ers and adult L2ers, independently assessed for Korean proficiency, follow the same route to convergence, including overcoming the poverty-of-the-stimulus problems, a route differing from — yet subsuming — the L-1 child route.
About the speaker: Bonnie Schwartz is Professor in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She has published extensively on second language acquisition. She began her academic career with a BA in French from Indiana University-Bloomington.
If you have a disability and need assistance, accommodations can be made to meet most needs. Please call 855-5458.
