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This study examines whether the second language acquisition (L2A) of syntactic properties at the interfaces is problematic for L2 learners. English verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) was tested as an interface property which involves feature interpretability. Two subtle contrasts of VPE at different grammar-internal interfaces were examined: (a) copula "be" and lexical verb ellipsis at the syntax-lexicon interface (*John is here, and Mary will too vs. John slept, and Mary will too), and (b) progressive "be" and perfective "have" stranding at the syntax-semantics interface (*John slept, and Mary was too vs. Peter saw your parents last week, but he hasn't since). Unlike (a), the contrast in (b) requires identifying (un)interpretable features on "-ing" and "-en" to recover the semantics of the elided material. Since Saudi Arabic does not license VPE, (very-)advanced English L2 speakers whose first language (L1) is Saudi Arabic were tested. The results from a bimodal timed acceptability judgment task showed they were more target-like on the contrast at the syntax-lexicon interface than they were on the syntax-semantics interface. They particularly deviated from target-like judgments on "have" stranding which requires recognizing the perfective uninterpretable feature on "-en." These results suggest selective vulnerability at grammar-internal interfaces whenever uninterpretable features are involved.

This chapter has thirteen sections: 1. General; 2. History of English Linguistics; 3. Phonetics and Phonology; 4. Morphology; 5. Syntax; 6. Semantics; 7. Lexicography, Lexicology, and Lexical Semantics; 8. Onomastics; 9. Dialectology and Sociolinguistics; 10. New Englishes and Creolistics; 11. Second Language Acquisition; 12. English as a Lingua Franca; 13. Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis. Sections 1 and 2 are by Viktorija Kostadinova; section 3 is by Marco Wiemann; sections 4 and 5 are by Gea Dreschler and Tamara Bouso; section 6 is by Beáta Gyuris; section 7 is by Ai Zhong; section 8 is by Maggie Scott; section 9 is by Lieselotte Anderwald; section 10 is by Wiebke Ahlers and Manuela Vida-Mannl; section 11 is by Kholoud A. Al-Thubaiti; section 12 is by Shawnea Sum Pok Ting, Ida Parise, and Alessia Cogo; section 13 is by Elisabeth Reber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether second language (L2) speakers can pre-empt a first language (L1) property which involves uninterpretable features, such as resumption. The Interpretability Hypothesis predicts persistent L1 effects in L2 grammars because uninterpretable features resist resetting beyond some critical period (Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou 2007). Unlike English, Saudi Arabic allows grammatical resumption in complex wh-interrogatives, which is highly preferred with (D)iscourse-linked wh-forms (e. g. ʔayy-NP 'which-NP') but disallowed with non-D-linked ones (e. g. ʔeeʃ 'what'). The study was conducted with fifteen native English speakers and 34 (very)-advanced Saudi Arabic L2 speakers of English with age of onset (AO 1–13 years). In a bimodal, timed acceptability judgment task, their accuracy judgments of 32 (un)grammatical wh-interrogatives were tested. As predicted, results show that L2 speakers of very advanced levels inaccurately accepted resumption especially with D-linked wh-interrogatives. The results also show non-significant differences between AO 1–6 and 7–13 years in their rejection accuracy of resumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]