The Status of Functional Categories in L2 French: Comprehension versus Production

Variable use of the overt morphology associated with functional categories is a common finding throughout the second language acquisition literature. The nature of this optionality & its implications regarding the relationship between morphology & syntax is a topic of intense debate. Two opposing positions are identified by White (2003). The Morphology-before-Syntax hypothesis claims that variability is indicative of major impairment to the interlanguage grammar in the domain of functional categories and/or their associated features. Conversely, under the Syntax-before-Morphology hypothesis, variability is the consequence of problems in the surface realization of inflectional morphology. While several studies have supported both hypotheses, nearly all of these have relied exclusively on production data (Eubank 1994, 1996; Gess & Herschensohn 2001; Haznedar 1997; Lardiere 1998; Prevost & White 2000; Schwartz & Sprouse 1994, 1996; Vainikka & Young-Scholten 1994, 1996). The present study focuses on evaluating the claims of competing accounts of morphological variability in second language acquisition via comprehension data. The study demonstrates that adult Anglophone learners of French can interpret morphological agreement contrasts that are represented in INFL & NUM despite deficient production of the inflectional morphology associated with these functional categories, thereby supporting the Syntax-before-Morphology hypothesis. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document