The application of linguistic typology

In the present chapter possibilities of applying linguistic typology to other areas of linguistics – i.e. historical linguistics, first language acquisition (FLA) and second language acquisition (SLA) – will be explored, wherever possible, by referring back to relevant discussions in the preceding chapters. In historical linguistics some linguists have enthusiastically embraced linguistic typology particularly since the publication of Greenberg (1963b); other linguists have sharply criticized and also called into question the application of linguistic typology to linguistic reconstruction. Nonetheless linguistic typology commands excellent prospects of raising fundamental questions about language change, and resolving some of the problems and issues involved in historical linguistics, if and when applied judiciously. In FLA and SLA, on the other hand, linguistic typology in the opinion of the present writer, has not been utilized as much as it should have. This is echoed by the L2 researcher William Rutherford (1984b: 138), who puts it, ‘[i]t is probably safe to say that the [L2] explanatory framework that is most often mentioned, though less often actually utilized, is that of "language universal" [emphasis added].’ Indeed, with the notable exception of the work of S. Gass (1979, 1982, 1984a, 1984b), S.M. Gass (1989) and that of a few other FLA and SLA researchers, linguistic typology is not very widely invoked as a viable theoretical framework within which to raise questions about the language acquisition process and also to address some of the theoretical issues emerging from FLA and SLA studies. This, however, should never be understood to imply that linguistic typology has little to offer for these areas of applied linguistics. Nothing is further from the truth as will be shown in the present chapter. For instance, the validity of the Accessibility Hierarchy (AH) has not only been demonstrated in relation to the SLA process in particular but important pedagogical implications for language teaching and learning have also been drawn directly from the relevance of the AH to SLA (see 6.3.2).