A biolinguistic approach to clausal gerunds and TP-defective gerunds in second language syntax

摘要

This paper looks at the question of what second language learners know about syntax but could not have “learned.” It is hypothesized that if we show second-language learners know a particular aspect of the second language (L2) syntax which could not have been learned via formal explanation, and that aspect did not exist in their first language (L1) syntax, we can argue that there is something internal (in their minds/brains) that is responsible for such knowledge – the language organ. The study is intended to offer evidence for biolinguistics from the field of Second Language Acquisition.