Margaret Thomas
 Photograph: L. Domash
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Associate Professor
Program in Linguistics
Slavic & Eastern Languages Department
Boston College
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Contact Information
| Address | Program in Linguistics Slavic & Eastern Languages Department 210 Lyons Hall Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 USA |
| Telephone Fax |
617 552 3697 thomasm at bc dot edu 617 552 3913 |
Books
Universal grammar in second language acquisition: A history. (2004). London: Routledge Press.
From the ancient Mediterranean world to the present day, our conceptions of what is universal have interacted with our experiences of language learning. This book tells two stories: the story of how scholars in the west have conceived of the fact that human languages share important properties despite their obvious differences; and the story of how westerners have understood the nature of second or foreign language learning.
In narrating these two stories, I argue that modern second language acquisition theory needs to reassess what counts as its own past. The book addresses Greek contributions to the prehistory of universal grammar; Roman bilingualism; the emergence of the first foreign language grammars in the early Middle Ages; and Medieval speculative grammarians’ efforts to define the essentials of human language. I show that after the Renaissance expanded people’s awareness of language differences, scholars returned to the question of universals in the 1660 Port-Royal grammar that Chomsky notoriously celebrated in Cartesian Linguistics. The book then looks at how post-Saussurean European linguistics and American structuralism up to modern generative grammar have each differently conceived of universals and language learning.
This book was written for students and scholars of linguistics, specialists in second language acquisition, and language teacher-educators. It does not presuppose background knowledge of the history of linguistics.
Knowledge of Reflexives in a Second Language. (1993). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Press.
This book contributes to the debate about whether adult language learners have access to the principles and parameters of universal grammar in constructing the grammar of a second language. The data are based on two related experiments. The first examines the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns by native speakers of Japanese and of Spanish. The second experiment examines the interpretation of the Japanese reflexive zibun by native speakers of English and of Chinese.
I evaluate three hypotheses: (a) that UG is unavailable, and that processing strategies or other non-linguistic principles guide second language acquisition; (b) that UG is available only in the form in which it is instantiated in the learner’s native language; (c) that UG is fully available, including the ability to re-set parameters to UG-sanctioned values not instantiated in the learner’s native language.
The results show that learners observe constraints defined by Manzini and Wexler’s (1987) parameterized version of Principle A of the binding theory, and support the proposal that adult learners have access to universal grammar. A final chapter reviews the experimental data in the light of accounts of cross-linguistic variation in the grammar of anaphors that reject parameterization of the binding principles in favor of a movement to INFL approach.
Journal Articles and Chapters in Books
2003
Plato’s problems and Plato’s Problem
Language and Communication, 23, 81-91
Two textbook representations of second language acquisition and Universal Grammar: ‘Access’ versus ‘constraint’
Second Language Research, 19, 359-376
2002
Universal Grammar in Roger Bacon and Martin Joos: Generative linguistics’ reading of the past
Historiographia Linguistica, 29, 341-380
Development of the concept of ‘the poverty of the stimulus’
The Linguistic Review, 19, 51-71
2001
The Child Language Data Exchange System in research on second language acquisition
Second Language Research, 17, 195-212. Co-author: William E. Rutherford
2000
Twenty-five years of the BUCLD: An institutional history
Journal of Education, 182, 1-18
Reprinted from A. H.-J. Do, L. Domínguez & A. Johansen (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, pp. 1-15. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press, 2001
1999
Some referential properties of English it and that
In A. Kamio & K.-I. Takami (Eds.), Function and Structure, pp. 289-315. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Co-author: Akio Kamio
1998
Programmatic ahistoricity in second language acquisition theory
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 387-405
Corder’s insight in the context of Medieval and early Renaissance language science
McGill Working Papers in Linguistics, 13, 183-196
Binding and related issues in L2 acquisition
In S. Flynn, G. Martohardjono & W. O’Neil (Eds.), The Generative Study of Second Language Acquisition, pp. 261-276. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
1997
Concepts of the nature of second language learning from the thirteenth and the twentieth centuries
In K. Jankowsky (Ed.), Conceptual and Institutional Developments in the Linguistic History of Europe and the United States, pp. 23-38. Münster: Nodus Publications
‘Full access’ and the history of linguistics (Commentary on a target article)
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 19, 743-744
Why second-language acquisition theory has no sense of its own history, why we should do something about it, and what we should do
In E. Hughes, M. Hughes, & A. Greenhill (Eds.), Proceedings of the 21st Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, pp. 627-638. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press
1995
Medieval and modern views of Universal Grammar and the nature of second language learning
The Modern Language Journal, 79, 345-355
Acquisition of the Japanese reflexive zibun and movement of anaphors in Logical Form
Second Language Research, 11, 206-234
1994
Linguistic variation in Spike Lee’s School Daze
College English, 56, 911-927
Assessment of proficiency in second language acquisition research
Language Learning, 44, 307-336
Young children’s hypotheses about English reflexives
In J. L. Sokolov & C. E. Snow (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Language Development Using CHILDES, pp. 254-285. Hillsboro, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
1993
What do elicited imitation data reveal about comprehension?
In D. Staub & C. Delk (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1992 Second Language Research Forum, pp. 187-199. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University
1991
Universal grammar and the interpretation of reflexives in a second language
Language, 67, 211-239
Do second language learners have ‘rogue’ grammars of anaphora?
In L. Eubank (Ed.), Point-Counterpoint, pp. 375-388. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Press
1990
Acquisition of Japanese reflexive zibun by unilingual and multilingual learners
In H. Burmeister & P. L. Rounds (Eds.), Variability in Second Language Acquisition: Proceedings of the 1990 Second Language Research Forum, pp. 701-718. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon
1989
The acquisition of English articles by first and second language learners
Applied Psycholinguistics, 10, 335-355
The interpretation of English reflexive pronouns by non-native speakers
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11, 281-303
1988
Vietnamese submissive passives
Proceedings of the 24th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 24, 377-390
Curriculum Vitae
Education
A.M., Ph.D.
Harvard University
Linguistics
M.Ed.
Boston University
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
B.A.
Yale University
Japanese Language and Literature
Employment
1996-
Associate Professor, Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages, Boston College
1991-96
Assistant Professor, Department of Slavic & Eastern Languages, Boston College
1986-90
Teaching Fellow, Linguistics Department, Harvard University
Awards and Research Support
Boston College
Full-year Sabbatical, 2005-6
Faculty Fellowship, 1996, 2003
Teaching / Advising Grant, 1995-6; 2002-03; 2003-04
Small Research Grant 1993, 2004, 2005
Spencer Foundation
Small Research Grant, 1998
National Academy of Education / Spencer Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1995-1996
Harvard-Radcliffe Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, 1990
Dokkyo University (Saitama, Japan)
International Cooperation Research Fellowship, 1989
American Association of Applied Linguistics
Graduate Student Prize for the best paper presented at AAAL conference, 1998
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship
Harvard University, 1987
Harvard University
Grant-in-Aid, 1983-9
Yale University
Sumitomo Travel-Study Fellowship, 1974-5
Editorial and Advisory Board Memberships
Reviews Editor, Second Language Research, 1998-
Advisory Committee Member, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2004-
University Service
Undergraduate Fulbright Program Advisor, 1996-
Member, University Fellowships Committee, 1996-
Member, Presidential Scholar Program, Interview Committee, 2001-
Member, Boston College Teacher Education Council, 1999-
Participant, NSF / NEH seminar on science and the humanities, 1995
Service to the Profession
External evaluator of candidates for promotion and tenure
[various universities and colleges], 1996-
External evaluator of PhD candidate in Linguistics
McGill University, 2002
External evaluator of undergraduate Linguistics honors candidates
Swarthmore College, 1997
Referee of book manuscripts submitted to scholarly presses
Blackwell Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Edinburgh University Press
Lawrence Erlbaum Press
Referee of article manuscripts submitted to scholarly journals
Applied Linguistics
Applied Psycholinguistics
College English
Historiographia Linguistica
International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Language Learning
The Modern Language Journal
Second Language Research
Studies in Language Sciences
Studies in Second Language Acquisition
Referee of chapter manuscripts submitted to edited collections
John Benjamins Press
Lawrence Erlbaum Press
Evaluator of conference paper proposals
Boston University Language Development Conference
Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
European Second Language Association
Member, Nominating Committee
North American Association for the History of the Language Sciences, 1999-2000; 2003-05
Member, Graduate Student Awards Committee
American Association for Applied Linguistics, 2000-01
Professional Memberships
American Association of Applied Linguistics, 1990-
Linguistic Society of America, 1989-
Modern Language Association, 1990-
North American Association for the History of the Language Sciences, 1994-
Languages
French, Japanese, Vietnamese; some Spanish, Latin, Chinese
Courses Offered at Boston College
Offered biennially in the Spring semester
Course description
This course is an examination of how people within different cultures and different social groups define their identities through the use of language, and how people use language to regulate power relations. The major axes for linguistic variation we will examine are ethnicity, nationality, locale, and social-class membership. Case studies include the English of rural Appalachia and the Ozark Mountains; language variation in Eastern Massachusetts and its history; Hiberno-English; African-American Vernacular English; and languages and language use among Native Americans. We will also examine the debate about preservation of ‘dying’ languages, and US language policy with particular reference to bilingual education. The emphasis is on the interplay of language and ethnicity in the United States, but there will be coverage of how language and ethnicity bear on each other in other cultures as well. Previous course work in linguistics is not required.
Course requirements include attentive reading and preparation for discussion. Each student will be responsible for either two individual or one group presentation to the class. In addition, there will be four written exercises, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Enrolled undergraduates receive Cultural Diversity credit.
Offered biennially in the Spring semester
Course description
This course examines research on the diversity of human languages and on the limits of that diversity: how are languages similar, and how are they different? What attempts have been made to typologize languages, or individual properties of languages, in western linguistics? Our focus is on morphology and syntax, with some reference to other domains in which typological comparison has been carried out. Integral to the course is discussion of various proposals that account for why languages both differ and resemble each other.
The course is designed for Linguistics minors, majors, and graduate students who have already completed SL311 General Linguistics, or at least one other course in Linguistics. Additional preparation is recommended, but not required: SL323 The Linguistic Structure of English and / or SL344 Syntax and Semantics.
Offered biennially in the Fall semester
Course description
This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics, that is, to the study of language in its social context. We will examine a number of classic issues in sociolinguistics including the varieties of language associated with social class, ethnicity, and locale; bilingualism; pidgin and creole languages; proposals about the relationship of language, thought, and culture; and the structure and role of discourse in different cultures. The course concludes by investigating several sociolinguistic issues of contemporary interest: language and gender; the ‘U.S. English’ controversy; language and public policy.
Student responsibilities include attentive reading and preparation for discussion, four written assignments, one in-class quiz, a small independent project in which students gather and analyze original sociolinguistic data, and midterm and final exams. Previous course work in linguistics is not required. Enrolled undergraduates receive Cultural Diversity credit.
Offered annually in the Fall semester
Course description
This course analyzes the structure and resources of the English language. Our focus is on modern forms of the language, with some reference to earlier versions of English. We will examine the major features of English, including the sound system, the structure and meanings of words, syntax, and the properties of discourse. SL323 takes a descriptive approach (looking closely at the facts of the language) rather than a theoretical approach (focusing on why the facts of the language are what they are). An important part of the course involves the analysis, and in some cases the collection, of original language data: data based on students’ own intuitions about linguistic forms and meanings; data about usage patterns among groups of speakers; data regarding speakers’ attitudes toward language; and (possibly) data which illuminate differences between English and other languages.
The course is designed with two groups in mind: students anticipating becoming teachers of English, and students who want to know more about how English works, but who are not necessarily interested in language pedagogy.
Offered periodically
Course description
SL3598 is an introduction to the linguistic analysis of the Japanese language. It is intended primarily for two groups of students: those who are now studying or who have studied the Japanese language (or literature, culture, history, arts, etc.); and those with background in linguistics who wish to gain familiarity with the structure of a non-Indo-European language. The interests of both groups will be addressed. Students with previous knowledge of neither Japanese nor linguistics are not excluded from the course, but should consult with the instructor before enrolling in SL358.
The course covers both technical linguistic features of the Japanese language (i.e. phonology; word-structure; grammar; genetic relationships to other languages), and those relating to social and cultural issues (i.e. orthographic conventions; Japanese beliefs about their own language; social facts bearing on the language), with the amount of attention paid to various topics in part a function of the interests of class participants.
Offered biennially in the Fall semester
Course description
This course is a survey of classic issues at the interface of language and mind. After introducing some of the assumptions, vocabulary, and analytic tools of modern linguistics, we will examine language and the brain; speech perception; language and memory; sentence processing; speech production; language development in children; and the psycholinguistics of reading.
Assignments include readings, mid-term and final exams, written exercises (typically involving collection and analysis of psycholinguistic data), and a term paper based on original empirical data. Each student will design and carry out a small psycholinguistic study, with the instructor providing examples of feasible project ideas and extensive guidance. Although this course is an introduction to psycholinguistics, it is desirable that students have some background in either linguistics or psychology. Speak with the instructor if you do not meet this criterion but would like to enroll in SL361 / PS377.
Offered biennially in the Spring semester
Course description
This course is an introduction to the study of what it means to learn, and to know, a language other than one’s native tongue. It does not directly address language pedagogy, but language teachers need to understand how languages are acquired in order teach effectively. The majority of the course focuses on research carried out since the development of the interlanguage hypothesis in the mid 1970s. We will examine a number of proposals about second language acquisition, among them Krashen’s monitor model; research that applies Greenbergian language universals to the analysis of learner language; generative grammar-based hypotheses; and the debate about ‘input and interaction.’
The course includes discussion of the acquisition of a sound system (phonology), the structure of words (morphology), vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics. We will also discuss—from various points of view—the role of the native language in second language acquisition and how to conceptualize similarities and differences between the two; child first and second language acquisition; and research on affective and social factors that bear on language learning.
Students will spend two hours a week working with a second language learner (e.g. as a tutor or assistant teacher). This gives students the opportunity to assess first-hand the validity of proposals about language learning.
Offered biennially in the Spring semester
Course description
This course introduces students to modern generative grammatical theory and to basic concepts in semantics, with greater attention paid to syntax than to semantics. Our goal is to develop a working model of what it is that a person knows, when we say that he or she knows the grammar of a particular language. We focus on the analysis of English, but examples derive from other languages (both familiar and exotic) as well.