The acquisition of reflexives and pronouns by Icelandic children.

Autor/inn/en	Sigurjonsdottir, Sigridur; u.a.
Titel	The acquisition of reflexives and pronouns by Icelandic children.
Quelle	(1988), 13 S.Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	Mikroform; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Altersstufe; Grammatik; Kindersprache; Kontrastive Linguistik; Pronomen; Reflexivpronomen; Spracherwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Englisch; Kontrastierung; Erwachsener; Island
Abstract	An experimental study of the interpretation of lexical anaphors and pronouns by Icelandic-speaking children is reported. The standard binding theory of English is reviewed, and problems in the application of the theory to Icelandic, which has long-distance antecedents, are discussed. A parameterized binding theory constructed to account for the variation between languages is outlined and tested with data from 120 Icelandic children, aged 2 - 6, and 15 adult control subjects. Results show that the Icelandic children and adults strongly prefer a long-distance antecedent in the reflexive, and that this preference gets stronger as the children get older. The findings conflict with the subset principle of the parameterized binding theory and the evidence supporting it in studies of Chinese and Korean, which appear to have a similar kind of reflexive allowing both local and long-distance binding. An explanation for this is found not in problems with the subset principle but in differences in the target grammars. It is concluded that Icelandic does not provide evidence for the parameterized binding theory, contrary to current assumptions, and that the standard binding theory is preferable.
Erfasst von	Informationszentrum für Fremdsprachenforschung, Marburg
Update	1996_(CD)