Second Language Competence: The Acquisition of Complex Syntax in Spanish

Rocio Pérez Tattam

Jan 2011 · Cambridge Scholars Publishing

About this ebook

This volume looks at the development of linguistic competence and convergence in second language acquisition by analysing the acquisition of complex syntax by non-native learners of Spanish. It looks at the knowledge that is transferred from the native language and the changes that occur as learners become more proficient. It focuses on a particular class of grammatical constructions that are central to understanding the transition from simple to complex syntax in language development: Control, Raising and Exceptional Case Marking structures. The formal properties of these constructions have been described extensively in theoretical syntax. This volume presents an empirical study, as well as a comprehensive review of seminal and current theories, that ultimately seeks to bridge the gap between linguistic theory and its applications.

About the author

Rocío Pérez Tattam is a postgraduate researcher at the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism at Bangor University, UK. She completed her MA and PhD in Spanish and Linguistics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She has collaborated in research projects and published a number of articles and book chapters in the areas of bilingualism, second language acquisition and psycholinguistics. Her specific research interests concern interlinguistic influence in grammatical phenomena at the interfaces between phonology/morphology and syntax, syntax and semantics, and semantics and cognition.