ABSTRACT
In the field of generative nonnative language acquisition research, a major concern has been that of investigating the extent to which second language acquisition (L2A) resembles first language acquisition (L1A): whether Universal Grammar (UG) is accessible or available to second language learners in the same way as it is to first language learners. This chapter aims to contribute to this debate by studying not only L2A but third language acquisition (L3A) as well. The author reports data on the verbal functional domain and explores the status of the formal features finiteness, agreement, and the feature strength of T(ense) in L2 and L3 interlanguage representations, with the goal of shedding some light on the issue of "failed" features in non-native language acquisition. It subscribes to the "morphology-before-syntax" approach, which contends that surface morphology drives or triggers underlying syntax in language acquisition.
