ABSTRACT
Generative linguistic theory aims to provide a characterization of the linguistic competence of native speakers of a language and to explain how it is possible for child first language acquirers to achieve that competence. The generative perspective on second language (L2) acquisition has parallel goals, specifically, to account for the nature and acquisition of interlanguage competence. In this framework, language use is assumed to be based upon an abstract linguistic system, a mental representation of grammar. To summarize so far, the linguistic competence of native speakers of a language includes knowledge of ambiguity and of ungrammaticality, as exemplified by the preceding restrictions on wh-movement. The generative perspective on L2 explores the nature of interlanguage competence by adopting a variety of performance measures to try to discover the essential characteristics of underlying mental representations. Spontaneous production data might seem to provide an obvious source of information as to the nature of interlanguage competence.
