This book presents and analyzes the morphosyntactic development of Spanish in monolingual and bilingual first language (L1) acquisition and in adult SLA. Based on the principles and parameters model of generative grammar, the book addresses the nature of linguistic knowledge and examines the development of grammatical aspects such as morphology, syntax, and lexical semantics in monolingual, bilingual, and second language (L2) learners. The author argues that the underlying linguistic competence of L1 and L2 speakers is constrained by the nature of the language the learners entertain, as guided by principles of Universal Grammar. Throughout the book, the author considers different approaches concerning the nature and development of linguistic knowledge such as the continuity hypothesis—including both weak and strong versions—(Pinker, 1989), the maturation hypothesis (Radford, 1990), and the no continuity view. The author supports the continuity hypothesis by arguing that principles and parametric options continue to be available throughout the acquisition process in the monolingual, bilingual, and adult grammatical systems. In other words, the author argues that linguistic representation is fundamentally similar among the grammars of child L1, child bilingual, and adult L2 learners, and that all of these are similar to the adult target grammar.

This book consists of six chapters that are organized according to the major grammatical themes outlining the platform of generative grammar (i.e., the morphosyntax of the noun phrase, the morphosyntax of the verb phrase, subject and object pronouns, Complementizer Phrase [CP], and aspects of the syntax-lexical semantics interface). Each chapter is introduced with a comprehensive overview of the basic assumptions of the phenomena presented in the chapter. Chapter 1 reviews the theoretical background of language acquisition in general and presents the theoretical issues relevant to the three types of acquisition discussed in the book: L1, bilingual, and L2. Chapter 2 presents research on the acquisition of the Noun Phrase, which comprises the Determiner Phrase. Chapter 3 examines research on the acquisition of the Verb Phrase and its extended functional projections (i.e., Aspect, Tense, Mood, and Subject Agreement). In chapter 4, research on the parametric differences of subject and object pronouns is presented. Chapter 5 examines the acquisition of structures related to the CP (i.e., wh-movement, relative clauses, imperative). In chapter 6, research on the acquisition of lexical semantics phenomena that are related to the syntactic properties of the language is introduced.

This book is well written and very clear in its exposition. The author presents a well-covered theoretical and comprehensive overview of the major issues concerning L1, bilingual, and L2 acquisition; therefore, its content provides an excellent resource for researchers who investigate the acquisition of Spanish as well as languages that have been compared to Spanish, such as English and other Romance languages. Due to its clarity and coverage of material, this book is also quite accessible to students with a minimal linguistic background who are considering the study of language acquisition from a L1, L2, or bilingual perspective.

Of particular importance in the book is the comparison of the similarities and differences between the three types of acquisition; throughout the book, the author provides a theoretical analysis of the nature of the linguistic representations and processes that take place in the three types of acquisition by considering alternative positions to the continuity view. Additionally, other views particular to the type of acquisition are also considered (e.g., the language differentiation hypothesis in bilingual acquisition, the full transfer/full access hypothesis in SLA, among others). Although the book presents a thorough view of the main aspects in the development of linguistic knowledge, an area that is not presented is the acquisition of the phonological properties of the language. A chapter in this field would have benefited the book even more.

Overall, this volume constitutes a comprehensive and well-referenced text and is an excellent source on the current issues of the acquisition of Spanish. It should be of interest not only to researchers who study the acquisition of Spanish, but also to acquisitionists in general.