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Sources of Linguistic Knowledge and Uniformity of Nonnative Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Helmut Zobl
Helmut Zobl
Affiliation:
Carleton University
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Abstract

Tacit linguistic knowledge derives from experience of the input data or from domain-specific principles without the interaction of experience. Recognition of constraint violations is generally deemed to call upon the second kind of knowledge source. This paper proposes that this epistemological distinction should be reflected in native speaker and nonnative speaker performance. More precisely, performance should be more uniform across the species where it engages knowledge without the interaction of experience. A review of six studies investigating nonnative speaker acceptability judgments supports the predicted asymmetry. The paper concludes that the observed asymmetry supports the modular position on nonnative linguistic knowledge.

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Articles
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Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , December 1992, pp. 387 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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