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Asymmetrical Knowledge of Ungrammaticality in SLA Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

David Birdsong
David Birdsong
Affiliation:
University of Texas
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Abstract

The present paper addresses the argument that access to UG in SLA implies an asymmetrical knowledge of ungrammaticality, which is evidenced in superior accuracy and uniformity in learners' judgments of ungrammatical structures versus grammatical structures (Felix, 1988; Zobl, 1992). I attempt to show that the asymmetry position is conceptually defective, that the evidence for it is inconclusive and inappropriate, and that the evidence adduced is contradicted by other data.

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Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , December 1994, pp. 463 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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References

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