The Naturalness Differential Hypothesis: Cross-linguistic Influence and Universal Preferences in Interlanguage Phonology and Morphology

Abstract

The role of the mother tongue has been a major topic of second language acquisition research over the last few decades, but despite the overwhelming empirical evidence of cross-linguistic influence in learner language a number Of questions still remain to be answered: what and how much is transferred when, how and why? This study explores the extent to which a theory of linguistic naturalness — the conceptual opposite of markedness, as formulated in Natural Phonology and Natural Morphology — might provide some insights into the issue Show more