Generative syntax aims to characterize knowledge of language in computational terms: What is the nature of the computational system in an individual’s mind that underlies their linguistic abilities? This chapter explores syntactic variation from this computational vantage point, making use of concepts that have emerged from the rich body of work in the study of grammar formalisms. The perspective we adopt focuses on syntactic dependency patterns and the relationship between these patterns and constituency. We show how this allows for grammatical phenomena to be characterized in terms of formal properties of the ways in which they require constituents to be combined: whether the constituents are continuous or discontinuous in the surface string; whether this surface discontinuity is bounded or unbounded; whether discontinuous constituents are interleaved in a manner that has been termed "well-nested"; and whether constituents are copied in the surface string. These properties speak to the nature of the grammatical device necessary to characterize a given dependency and allows us to provide a new kind of cross-linguistic typology in explicitly computational terms.

In this chapter, we address questions related to cross-linguistic variation in the organization of features and their morphological expression in words (or morphemes), focusing on implications for syntax. It tries to bring together topics pertaining to both words and features, two types of primitives that are not the same for most syntactic frameworks. The questions that guide the content of the chapter are: Is there a universal feature hierarchy? How are these features organized? How are they expressed? Even though there is no uniform answer to each of these questions, there seem to be clear tendencies in both the domains of features and word(building) in relation to syntax. However, the limits of variation, and the details of specific issues are still active areas of investigation. Topics that are discussed in relation to these questions are the status of features as binary or privative; bundling of features in one or multiple heads in the clausal spine; the expression of a morphosyntactic feature as an affix, clitic, or freestanding element; and polysynthetic languages.

An A-dependency is usually characterized in terms of a relationship between different syntactic positions that is based on case, agreement, theta-role assignment, or binding. This chapter starts with an examination of the defining properties of A-dependencies, focusing on case and agreement as potential driving forces for the creation of such dependencies, and the debate surrounding these topics. We then explore the cross-linguistic variation in the syntax of A-dependencies, illustrating it with dependencies that cross a clausal boundary. Specifically, we examine different instances of raising and control, as well as the theories formulated to account for such phenomena.

This chapter looks at the mutual relationships among a number of types of wh-constructions. I propose that wh-constructions (and wh-words) are organized in what I call a wh-hierarchy – beginning with simplest wh-interrogatives, going via (un)conditionals and correlatives, free relatives, and light-headed relatives, and finishing with the most complex headed relatives. This hierarchy is claimed to follow from an incremental structural growth of wh-words, mirroring the growth of the respective wh-clauses (Foc-Top-Rel-Mod). The hierarchy receives empirical support from many grammatical and linguistic domains, particularly morphology (wh-word lexicalization patterns), syntax (wh-in-situ vs. ex-situ, structural height of the wh-movement landing site), typology (cross-linguistic availability of wh-words in the individual constructions), diachrony, and L1 acquisition. The chapter builds on data from a range of genealogically and geographically distant languages, including Indo-European, Uralic, Caucasian, Mesoamerican, and Papuan.

This paper addresses a longstanding issue, that of the universality of tense, by assessing the theoretical and empirical claims underlying analyses of so-called tenseless languages. We distinguish the following typology of approaches. (i) Analyses that posit syntactic tense, distinguishing two subclasses: positing both semantic and syntactic covert tense, thus preserving the universality of tense, vs. positing covert syntactic but not semantic tense, thus preserving the universality of syntactic but not of semantic tense. (ii) Analyses refuting syntactic tense, distinguishing two further subclasses: positing covert semantic but not syntactic tense, thus preserving the universality of semantic but not syntactic tense, vs. positing neither semantic nor syntactic (covert) tense and thus refuting the universality of both. We then tackle an issue at the heart of many of the arguments for or against tensed/tenseless analyses: constraints on future time reference. We provide novel arguments for (absolute) future time reference in Chinese, and in light of these, conclude in favor of the universality of both syntactic and semantic tense, moreover correlating two putative tense universals.

This chapter discusses quantitative approaches to studying syntactic variation, more specifically approaches that pursue a combined quantitative–qualitative methodology, integrating components from both the formal-theoretical and the computational-statistical tradition. We first introduce a number of case studies of such integration, before zooming out and highlighting the advantages and benefits offered by a combined quantitative–qualitative approach and listing some of the fundamental theoretical issues it raises for the study of variation.

In this chapter we offer a brief history of generative views on pronouns, focusing on their (coreference) possibilities and their internal syntax. We focus on two types of variation that are responsible for many of the differences among pronominal systems in the world’s languages. The first concerns the syntactic category of the pronoun within a general theory of nominal extended projection; the second concerns the presence or absence of a lexical noun within the pronoun. Based on recent developments regarding the syntactic representation of speaker and addressee, we also offer a novel proposal for Japanese pronouns, which have thus far resisted straightforward analysis. This analysis is then extended to formal pronouns in languages like French and German.

This article addresses ground-breaking aspects of the Quechua Innovation and Teaching Initiative (QINTI). QINTI’s projects include a curricular outline for two semesters of beginning Quechua and audio-recorded chapter dialogues for an OER textbook, titled Ayni. Ayni expands the cultural scope of the traditional conception of Quechua speakers and integrates three mutually intelligible Quechua varieties: Ayacucho (Chanka), Bolivian (Cochabamba), and Cuzco-Collao. Pedagogical goals in developing the dialogues included maintaining comprehensible input, mutual intelligibility, and cultural authenticity. QINTI’s creation of Ayni serves as a model among the Indigenous languages of the Americas in fostering collaboration and creating instructional resources to bolster language revitalisation.

Emigration has been and still is an essential part of Polish experience. The country’s turbulent history has often forced Poles out of their homeland. Yet whenever or wherever they went, they established communities which strived to preserve their culture and, above all, to maintain their language. This chapter provides the main characteristics and history of the Polish diaspora. It also describes Polish ethnic institutions established to help new generations uphold the heritage language while bringing to discussion their forms and organisation. It also talks about heritage returnees, whose struggle with language in Polish schools has received little attention.

The chapter presents an overview of English Medium Instruction (EMI) at Swiss universities. It describes historical and political aspects relating to languages in Switzerland. This entails the implications for the multilingual policy, language law, federalism, and the role of English in higher education. The nation’s model of communication informed by the partner-language model has evolved into multilingualism with English. Many university courses in Switzerland are offered in English depending on the research done in a given area. The analysis focuses on the data collected from the websites of major Swiss universities with regard to the EMI trends.

This chapter gives a practical description of a CLIL vector model developed in Finland and Mexico for adolescent language learning students in Mexican public education (2017–2021). The model enabled two simultaneous interlinked learning experiences in which language teachers enable the learning of content through English, and teachers of other subjects enable the learning of English through content. Although the approach can be used for the learning of any additionallanguage, this chapter describes a case study in which the model was applied with the primary objective of raising levels of English language competences of some 1,500 students aged 15–18 years.

This chapter focuses on heritage language education in major English-speaking Chinese diasporic communities. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the Chinese diasporic communities across different geopolitical contexts. It is followed by a discussion of the benefits of HLs and the impact of language hierarchies on language development. It then provides a discussion of HL development in the home and its key research contributions in the field. The discussion is devoted to a critical review of HL language schools and the development of HL learners’ identity and perceptions of their multilingual selves. In the last section, the implications of HL education are outlined and suggestions for future research are indicated.

Some preliminary contextual, conceptual, and terminological remarks on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) create the necessary foundation for a multi-perspective evaluation of CLIL-related benefits for general English as a Foreign Language (EFL) proficiency. Theoretical perspectives suggest that CLIL has great potential to enhance students‘ language competencies. Corresponding empirical studies vary in explanatory power and show mixed results: Some indicate improvements, especially in receptive skills, vocabulary, and grammar, while others find limited effects. The chapter highlights that CLIL (research) is complex and challenging; contexts differ. It appears plausible that potential benefits not always materialise in CLIL classes.

The chapter presents an updated overview of translanguaging studies in Chinese university classrooms. It starts with a briefing of development of translanguaging research in China. Followed are systematic reviews of translanguaging studies on Chinese foreign language classrooms, English medium instruction classrooms and international students classrooms respectively. Based on review of these studies, the chapter ends by outlining the future directions of translanguaging research in Chinaand beyond.

While previous research has highlighted similarities between classroom codeswitching and pedagogical translanguaging in terms of affordances, there are also emerging commonalities in terms of constraints. Recent work conducted in multilingual classrooms in different parts of the globe reveals that the unplanned use of multilingual pedagogies can negatively affect students’ development of language proficiency. Furthermore, the non-strategic use of these pedagogies may result in the exclusion of Indigenous languages or varieties that have historically been subjected to linguistic discrimination and erasure. In light of these findings, we argue that multilingual pedagogies need to be conscious, structured, and planned for.