The Acquisition of English Restrictive Relative Clauses by Hungarian Learners of English

Book excerpt: "The present work uses the standard version of principles and parameters theory of Universal Grammar to address second language acquisition issues. It is assumed that comparative analysis of Hungarian and English based on the model enables the researcher to formulate precise and testable questions and the empirical research provides reliable answers." "The investigated area is the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by L1 Hungarian learners of L2 English. This area of grammar causes problems: most of these are proficiency-determined, but there are some which are observable even at fairly advanced levels. In the given framework it is postulated that some properties of parameters set differently for the L1 can be reset to the new language, whereas other properties seem to resist re-setting and remain non-native-like in the interlanguage of even near-native L2 English speakers of L1 Hungarian." "The book may interest pure and applied linguists, psycholinguists as well as practising teachers as it attempts to offer a possible answer to the often made observation: there are parts of L2 grammar which are relatively easy to acquire despite the language differences, yet there are several features that remain faulty or misunderstood despite teacher and learner effort."--BOOK JACKET.