Under the Universal Grammar (UG) framework, this book discusses the latest research on the role of L1 bidialectism in L2 acquisition, with a particular focus on early Chinese(L1)-English(L2) learners. Responding to the long-standing concern of whether L2 learners have access to UG in the target language, it provides evidence of the positive role of L1 multidialectism in L2 learning and confirms the role of UG in L2 acquisition. This book is essential reading for postgraduates and researchers in language education, linguistics, applied linguistics, speech-language pathology and psychology. The clarification of Chinese as L1 is also of interest to language educators in multilingual contexts.

Autorentext
Dr Weifeng Han currently lectures on linguistics and phonetics in speech pathology at Flinders University in South Australia. His teaching and research interests encompass what and how linguistics may contribute to what SLPs need for practice in multilingual and multicultural contexts. He is currently working on a series of projects investigating how the ability to use multiple dialects in the first language may affect the learning of English as a second language among Chinese child learners, and how this will have implications for speech and language diagnosis and assessment. He is an expert on the application of mixed methods in data analysis and discussion.

Inhalt
Contents1 IntroductionReferences2 Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition2.1 UG and L2 learning2.2 The L2 initial stateReferences3 Cross-Linguistic Transfer and Second Language Learnability3.1 Positive and negative cross-linguistic transfer3.2 Cross-linguistic transfer and L2 syntactic development delaysReferences4 Syntax-Semantics Interface and the Form-Meaning Mismatch Between L1 and L24.1 Syntax-semantics interface4.2 The form-meaning mismatch between L1 and L24.3 Sentence grammaticality and acceptability4.4 Semantic role4.5 A theoretical dilemmaReferences5 Chinese as the L1 in L2 Learning5.1 Chinese and Chinese dialects5.1.1 Phonology5.1.2 Vocabulary5.1.3 Writing5.1.4 Syntax5.2 Terminological issues of Chinese as the L1References6 Chinese Multidialectal Child Learners' Acquisition of English at the Syntax-Semantics Interface6.1 The L2 syntax-semantics interface awareness study6.1.1 Purpose6.1.2 Participants6.1.3 The sentence-picture matching task6.1.4 Results6.2 Discussion6.2.1 Preliminary considerations6.2.2 UG access and the L2 initial state in cL2A6.2.3 Cross-linguistic transfer at the syntax-semantics interface6.2.4 Abstract representation in L26.2.5 Language distance and L2 learning6.2.6 Multi-competence and input in L2 learning6.2.7 The demographic factors in L2 learningReferences7 ConclusionReferences