UNDERSTANDING QUANTIFIERS AND SCOPE INTERPRETATIONS IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

This article reviews the main published studies on the acquisition of quantifiers and scope interpretations by adult second language learners,and discusses how this research affects the development of theories in second language acquisition(SLA).It points out that research in this area contributes directly to the understanding of L1transfer effects and the availability of Universal Grammar(UG)to adult second language learners.Research along this line also sheds light on the issue of how second language acquisition differs from first language acquisition,and thus provides deeper insight into some issues that arise in first language acquisition.Although results of the existing studies seemed favorable to L1transfer effects and the accessibility to UG,this area of study is still rather new and more innovative research is needed to strengthen the arguments.