Agreement in the English interlanguage of Basque/Spanish bilingualsa minimalist farewell to "pro"
- María del Pilar García Mayo
- Amparo Lázaro Ibarrola
- Juana M. Liceras
ISSN: 0019-0810
Año de publicación: 2006
Número: 151
Páginas: 83-98
Tipo: Artículo
Otras publicaciones en: ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Resumen
This study investigates the status of subject pronouns in the English interlanguage of Basque-Spanish bilinguals from a minimalist perspective. The oral production of 20 participants was analyzed at two different points in their acquisition of English (Time 1: 396 hours of exposure; Time 2: 564 hours of exposure). The pronoun he, systematically adjoined to the verb at Time 1 in sentences that already feature a DP subject, is interpreted as a place holder for the agreement morphemes in the subjects' L1s. At Time 2 the entire pronominal system is acquired and English pronouns become independent. The reanalysis of pronouns, from agreement morphemes to free elements, is argued to have a direct impact on the distribution of inflection in the participants' English interlanguage.