This edited volume is representative of a growing interest in the SLA of articles, an interest sparked by the publication of Ionin, Ko, & Wexler (Reference Ionin, Ko and Wexler2004). García Mayo and Hawkins have collected a range of contributions that explore article acquisition from within the generativist framework.
The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 focuses on claims set out in Ionin et al. (Reference Ionin, Ko and Wexler2004)—namely, those that stem from the fluctuation hypothesis (FH), which states that learners with first languages (L1s) that lack articles will fluctuate between definiteness and specificity in their interpretation of what articles in a second language (L2) encode. Part 2 widens the scope of inquiry by including studies on other aspects of articles. Readers will find concise synopses for each study in the introductory chapter.
Each chapter is true to the book’s subtitle. Contributing authors report on article studies that have been carefully designed to test current hypotheses, such as the full transfer full access (FTFA) hypothesis (Schwartz & Sprouse, Reference Schwartz and Sprouse1996) and the failed functional features (FFF) hypothesis (Hawkins & Chan, 1997) among others. It is important to note that the emphasis is on testing various predictions that stem from SLA theory; this volume does not propose a definitive account as to how articles are acquired in a L2. Indeed, any present attempt at such a proposal would seem premature.
García Mayo (chapter 2) and Sarko (chapter 3) examine whether fluctuation between definiteness and specificity is present among L2 English learners with L1s that possess articles (Spanish in García Mayo’s study; Syrian Arabic and French in Sarko’s study). Tryzna (chapter 4) not only tests for fluctuation in additional articleless L1 groups (Chinese and Polish) but also raises serious questions about assumptions upon which the FH is based. By asking L1 Korean speakers of English to perform an online reading task, Kim and Lakshmanan (chapter 5) investigate potential effects of the FH on processing. Finally, Trenkic (chapter 6) offers an alternative perspective on interpretations made in Ionin et al. (Reference Ionin, Ko and Wexler2004); through reference to documented empirical findings, she proposes a well-argued account for the error patterns in L2 learners’ article production.
The studies in Part 2 tackle a variety of interesting issues regarding the SLA of articles. Ionin and Montrul (chapter 7) examine L1 Korean participants’ interpretations of generic reference for English bare plural and definite plural noun phrases. Jin, Åfarli, and Dommelen (chapter 8), in an effort to compare the explanatory power of FTFA versus FFF, investigate L1 English and L1 Chinese speakers’ article production in L2 Norwegian. Goad and White (chapter 9) explore the prosodic representation of English determiner phrases by L1 Turkish speakers and explain a previously unaccounted for pattern. Finally, Jaensch (chapter 10) addresses article acquisition in a third language by examining article production in the target language of German by L1 Japanese speakers with English as their L2.
Although there is a range of L1 participant groups (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish) in these studies, the target language in all but two of the chapters is English. More attention to articles in other languages would be expected in a volume with this general title. The inclusion of longitudinal studies might also be expected. However, as is so often the case for the broader field of SLA, the studies in this volume are cross-sectional in design.
An unmistakable strength of the volume is its careful and disciplined attention to theory. Contributing authors clearly state the theoretical motivation for their studies, and they do not fail to discuss what their findings imply for current theory. Readers will encounter new theoretical questions, innovative task designs for data collection, and insightful interpretations of empirical findings.
