《what makes learning second language grammar difficult》.pdf

What Makes Learning Second-Language Grammar Difficult? A Review of Issues Robert M. DeKeyser University of Pittsburgh If the ability to use language in the restricted sense (i.e., a communication system characterized by double articulation) is quintessentially human, then explaining this ability is a crucial task for cognitive science, and explaining its acquisition is a crucial task for developmental psychology. If the difficulty of acquiring a second language (L2), at least at a later age, stands in sharp contrast to the child’s celebrated accomplishments, then explaining this contrast is equally important for developing a complete understanding of humans’ abilities to use and acquire language. In fact, it can be argued that it is the enormous contrast between the two phenomena that needs explaining, rather than either of the two phenomena per se. One way to tackle this problem is the social science approach of correlating age and many other demographic variables with success in acquisition: to disentangle design features of the species from accidental characteristics of the environment. Another approach consists of investigating what elements or characteristics of an L2 are hard to acquire: to understand better how weaknesses in the acquisition process interact with the design features of human languages. And of course, one can look at the two variables in interaction with each other: Which problematic elements of the Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert DeKeyser, Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA. Internet: RDK1@pitt.edu 1 2 What Makes Learning L2 Grammar Difficult? language are an issue in L2