lesviolettes wrote:I think once an ASLL is well settled in his/her non native background, after some time, s/he can acquire some intuitive grammar feel.
But before they will need some sound fixed stuctures of the language.
You're right on both counts, LV. The operative words are 'some' and 'sound'.
An ESL/EFL can actually become really quite an expert, some even close to native speaker level. But if they do so as adults, ie. learn the second language as adults, they can never acquire the intuitive nature that an ENL child possesses.
Quote:S Pinker- The Language Instinct [at page 19]
A preschooler's tacit knowledge of grammar is more sophisticated than the thickest style manual or the most state-of the-art computer language system, and the same applies to all healthy human beings, even the notorious syntax-fracturing professional athlete and the, you know, like inarticulate teenage skateboarder.
We have proof of this right here at A2K. Most people, a good example is Setanta, know virtually nothing of how language works, yet they deploy language very effectively.
With respect to your "sound structures" point, prescriptive rules are not accurate portrayals of English structure so they can't be described as sound.
c'est fou ce que vous parlez bien français!! c'est vraiment génial, je me sens vraiment chez moi!!!
