Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-72crv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-06T13:34:52.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ultimate Attainment in Second Language Acquisition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

David Birdsong
David Birdsong*
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
*
Department of French & Italian, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

On the prevailing view of ultimate attainment in second language acquisition, native competence cannot be achieved by postpubertal learners. The present study offers convergent experimental evidence which suggests there are exceptions to this generalization. At the same time, early arrival in the host country—even if past puberty—correlates with attainment of native norms on a variety of measures. Also investigated are the loci of competence differences in the syntax of the target language (French). Contrary to findings by Coppieters 1987, experimental performance is not predicted by the status of a given linguistic variable as within or outside the theoretical domain of Universal Grammar.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 68 , Issue 4 , December 1992 , pp. 706 - 755
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by Linguistic Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

*

Portions of this paper were presented at the 1991 meetings of the Second Language Research Forum, the Applied Linguistics at Michigan State Conference, and the Boston University Conference on Language Development. The paper has profited from discussions with Alan Beretta, Randy Diehl, Lynn Eubank, Jim Lantolf, Richard Meier, Bill Rutherford, Bonnie Schwartz, Antonella Sorace, and Lydia White. I wish to acknowledge the contributions of audiences at several universities: Concordia, Cornell, Florida, McGill, Southern California, and Texas. The comments of two anonymous reviewers for Language are also appreciated.

I extend sincere thanks to David Johns, who contributed to the data analysis; Michèle Roberts, who transcribed many of the think-alouds; and John Bro and Dalila Ayoun, who assisted in data elicitation. The coöperation of all subjects is also greatly appreciated. I am especially indebted to Steve Pinker and to Susana Franck and Jacques Mehler of the Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique in Paris for their assistance during the data collection phase of the project.

This study was supported in part by a Research Development Award from the Division of Sponsored Research, University of Florida, DSR 89021023.

References

ACTFL. 1986. Proficiency guidelines. Hastings-on-Hudson: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.Google Scholar
Aoun, Joseph. 1986. Generalized binding: The syntax and logical form of Wh-inter- rogatives. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Barsalou, Lawrence. 1987. The instability of graded structures: Implications for the nature of concepts. Concepts and conceptual development: Ecological and intellectual factors in categorization, ed. by Neisser, Ulric, 101–40. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Belletti, Adriana. 1990. Generalized verb movement: Aspects of verb syntax. Torino, Italy: Rosenberg & Sellier.Google Scholar
Berthoud, Anne-Claude. 1982. Activité métalinguistique et acquisition d’une langue seconde. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Birdsong, David. 1984. Prenominal past participles in French. Papers from the 12th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (Current issues in linguistic theory, 26), ed. by Baldi, Philip, 37–50. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Birdsong, David. 1985. Constraints on the structure de+ modifier in French. Selected papers from the 13th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (Current issues in linguistic theory, 36), ed. by King, Larry and Maley, Catherine, 1–17. Amsterdam: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Birdsong, David. 1989. Metalinguistic performance and interlinguistic competence. Berlin & New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birdsong, David. 1991. On the notion of ‘critical period’ in UG/L2 theory: A response to Flynn & Manuel. In Eubank, 147–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birdsong, David, and Montreuil, Jean-Pierre (eds.) 1988. Advances in Romance linguistics. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Bjorklund, David F., and Green, Brandi L. 1992. The adaptive nature of cognitive immaturity. The American Psychologist 47. 47–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanche, Patrick, and Merino, Barbara J. 1989. Self-assessment of foreign-language skills: Implications for teachers and researchers. Language Learning 39. 313–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bley-Vroman, Robert. 1989. What is the logical problem of foreign language learning? In Gass & Schachter, 41-68.Google Scholar
Bongaerts, Theo. 1992. Learner variables in second language acquisition. University of Nijmegen, ms.Google Scholar
Bouchard, Denis. 1984. On the content of empty categories. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Bouchard, Denis. 1988. En-chain. In Birdsong & Montreuil, 33–49.Google Scholar
Carroll, John M., Bever, Thomas G.; and Pollack, Chava R. 1983. The non-uniqueness of linguistic intuitions. Lg. 57.368–83.Google Scholar
Chaudron, Craig. 1983. Research on metalinguistic judgments: A review of theory, methods, and results. Language Learning 33. 343–77.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1986. Barriers. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Clahsen, Harald, and Muysken, Pieter. 1986. The availability of universal grammar to adult and child learners—a study of the acquisition of German word order. Second Language Research 2. 93–119.Google Scholar
Clark, Herbert H. 1973. The language-as-fixed-effect fallacy: A critique of language statistics in psychological research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 12. 335–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppieters, René. 1976. Point of view in French syntax. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University dissertation.Google Scholar
Coppieters, René. 1987. Competence differences between native and near-native speakers. Lg. 63.544–73.Google Scholar
Culioli, Antoine. 1978. Valeurs modales et opérations énonciatives (à propos de certains emplois de bien et fort bien). Le Français Moderne 46. 300–17.Google Scholar
Culioli, Antoine. 1990. Pour une linguistique de l’énonciation, Tome 1. Paris: Ophrys.Google Scholar
Damourette, Jacques, and Pichon, Edouard. 1911—1950. Des mots à la pensée: Essai de grammaire de la langue française. Paris: D’Artrey.Google Scholar
Davies, Alan. 1991. The native speaker in applied linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
DuPlessis, Jean, Solin, Doreen, Travis, Lisa; and White, Lydia. 1987. UG or not UG, that is the question: A reply to Clahsen & Muysken. Second Language Research 3. 56–75.Google Scholar
Ericsson, Anders K., and Simon, Herbert A. 1984. Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Eubank, Lynn (ed.) 1991. Point-counterpoint: Universal Grammar in the second language. Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faerch, Klaus, and Kasper, Gabriela (eds.) 1987. Introspection in second language research. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Fleischman, Susanne. 1991. Verb tense and point of view in narrative. Discourse- pragmatics and the verb, ed. by Fleischman, Suzanne and Waugh, Linda R., 26–54. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Flynn, Suzanne, and O’Neil, Wayne (eds.) 1988. Linguistic theory in second language acquisition. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flynn, Suzanne, and Manuel, Sharon. 1991. Age-dependent effects in language acquisition: ‘Critical period’ hypotheses. In Eubank, 117–45.Google Scholar
Gass, Susan M., and Schachter, Jacqueline (eds.) 1989. Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grevisse, Maurice. 1980. Le bon usage. 11th edn. Paris: Duculot.Google Scholar
Heringer, J. T. 1970. Research on quantifier-negative idiolects. Chicago Linguistic Society 6. 287–95.Google Scholar
Hirschbühler, Paul. 1988. The middle and pseudo-middle in French. In Birdsong & Montreuil, 97–111.Google Scholar
Huot, Hélène. 1981. Constructions infinitives du français. Geneva & Paris: Droz.Google Scholar
Hurford, James R. 1991. The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition 40. 159–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyltenstam, Kenneth. 1990. Non-native features of near-native speakers: On the ultimate attainment of childhood L2 learners. University of Stockholm, ms.Google Scholar
Iatridou, Sabine. 1990. About Agr(P). Linguistic Inquiry 21. 551–77.Google Scholar
Jaeggli, Osvaldo A. 1988. ECP effects at LF in Spanish. In Birdsong & Montreuil, 113–49.Google Scholar
Johnson, Jacqueline S., and Newport, Elissa L. 1989. Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology 21. 60–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, Jacqueline S., and Newport, Elissa L. 1991. Critical period effects on universal properties of language: The status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language. Cognition 39. 215–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kahneman, Daniel, and Miller, Dale T. 1986. Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives. Psychological Review 93. 136–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kayne, Richard. 1975. French syntax: The transformational cycle. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kayne, Richard. 1981a. Binding, quantifiers, clitics and control. Binding and filtering, ed. by Heny, Frank, 191–211. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kayne, Richard. 1981b. ECP extensions. LI 12. 93–133.Google Scholar
Kess, Joseph F., and Hoppe, Ronald A. 1985. Bias, individual differences, and ‘shared knowledge’ in ambiguity. Journal of Pragmatics 9. 21–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilroe, Patricia. 1989. The grammaticalization of French à. Austin: University of Texas dissertation.Google Scholar
Kuno, Susumu. 1975. Three perspectives in the functional approach to syntax. Papers from the parasession on functionalism, ed. by Grossman, Robin E., San, L. James, and Vance, Timothy J., 276–336. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Labov, William. 1975. What is a linguistic fact? Lisse: Peter de Ridder.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenneberg, Eric H. 1967. Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, Mark. 1974. Semantic verb classes and their role in French predicate complementation. Bloomington: Indiana University dissertation. [Reprinted, Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1976.]Google Scholar
Long, Michael. 1990. Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 12. 251–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCawley, James D. 1985. Review of Frederick J. Newmeyer, Grammatical theory: Its limits and possibilities. Lg. 61.668–79.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, Barry. 1988. The relationship between first and second languages: Language proficiency and language aptitude. Santa Cruz: University of California, ms.Google Scholar
Meisel, Jürgen. 1991. Principles of Universal Grammar and strategies of language use: On some similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition. In Eubank, 231–76.Google Scholar
Milner, Jean-Claude. 1978. De la syntaxe à l’interprétation: Quantités, insultes, exclamations. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Newport, Elissa L. 1990. Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science 14. 11–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbett, Richard E., and Wilson, Timothy DeCamp. 1977. Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review 84. 231–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obenauer, Hans-Georg. 1985. Connectedness, variables, and stylistic inversion in French. Grammatical representation, ed. by Guéron, Jacqueline, Obenauer, Hans-Georg, and Pollock, Jean-Yves, 237–57. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Obler, Loraine K. 1988. Talent in second language acquisition. Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Patkowski, Mark S. 1980. The sensitive period for the acquisition of syntax in a second language. Language Learning 30. 449–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1983. Sur quelques propriétés des phrases copulatives en français. Français et grammaire universelle, ed. by Obenauer, Hans-Georg & Pollock, Jean-Yves, 89–125. Paris: Larousse.Google Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1985. On case and the syntax of infinitives in French. Grammatical representation, ed. by Guéron, Jacqueline, Obenauer, Hans-Georg, and Pollock, Jean-Yves, 293326. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1986. Sur la syntaxe de en et le paramètre du sujet nul. La grammaire modulaire, ed. by Ronat, Mitsou and Couquaux, Daniel, 211–46. Paris: Minuit.Google Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1989. Verb movement, UG and the structure of IP. LI 20. 365–423.Google Scholar
Rizzi, Luigi. 1990. Relativized minimality. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Robert. 1966. Experimenter effects in experimental research. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.Google Scholar
Ross, John R. 1979. Where’s English? Individual differences in language ability and behavior, ed. by Fillmore, Charles J., Kempler, Daniel, and Wang, William S.-Y., 127–63. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Runkel, Philip J. 1990. Casting nets and testing specimens: Two grand methods of psychology. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Ruwet, Nicolas. 1972. Théorie syntaxique et syntaxe du français. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Schachter, Jacquelyn. 1989. Testing a proposed universal. In Gass & Schachter, 7388.Google Scholar
Smith, Carlota S. 1983. A theory of aspectual choice. Lg. 59.479–501.Google Scholar
Smith, Carlota S. 1991. The parameter of aspect. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Neil. 1991. Learning the impossible: The acquisition of possible and impossible languages by a polyglot savant. Keynote address, Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Sorace, Antonella. 1991a. Incomplete vs. divergent representations of unaccusativity in non-native grammars of Italian. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Sorace, Antonella. 1991b. Unaccusativity and auxiliary choice in non-native grammars of Italian and French: Asymmetries and predictable indeterminacy. Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Stowell, Timothy. 1981. The origins of phrase structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT dissertation.Google Scholar
Strozer, Judith L. 1991. Non-native language acquisition from a principles and parameters perspective. Current studies in Spanish linguistics, ed. by Campos, Hector and Martfnez-Gil, Fernando, 71–113. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Tversky, Amos, and Kahneman, Daniel. 1974. Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science 185. 1124–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wasow, Thomas. 1977. Transformations and the lexicon. Formal syntax, ed. by Culicover, Peter, Wasow, Thomas, and Akmajian, Adrian, 327–60. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Waugh, Linda R. 1977. A semantic analysis of word order: Position of the adjective in French. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Lydia. 1987. Universal Grammar: Is it just a new name for old problems? Plenary address, Second Language Research Forum, USC, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
White, Lydia. 1988. Island effects in second language acquisition. In Flynn & O’Neil, 144–72.Google Scholar
White, Lydia. 1989a. Universal Grammar and second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Lydia. 1989b. The adjacency condition on case assignment: Do L2 learners observe the Subset Principle? In Gass & Schachter, 134-58.Google Scholar
White, Lydia. 1991a. Adverb placement in second language acquisition: some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research 7. 131–61.Google Scholar
White, Lydia. 1991b. Argument structure in second language acquisition. Journal of French Language Studies 1. 189–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zobl, Helmut. 1992. Sources of linguistic knowledge and the homogeneity of nonnative grammaticality intuitions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, to appear.CrossRefGoogle Scholar