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L2 Acquisition of Word Order versus Morphological Markers in English by Persian Speakers

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This study draws on two different but commensurable research areas in second language acquisition: First, the recent development accounting for the optionality and variability of L2 learners in the use of inflectional morphology of verbs (Surface Form deficit Hypothesis, Failed Functional Feature hypothesis) and also another recent development claiming that by focus on form instruction in context, the attention resources of L2 learners can be directed to the problematic linguistic elements and thus make these linguistic elements more likely to be acquired. As indicated, in the first research area the attempt is to locate the source of this variability while, in the second research area, the attempt is to reduce the variable divergent forms. The findings showed that positive evidence alone was not enough for the targeted linguistic forms to be acquired. Neither were different types of FonF effective enough to create significant and lasting changes in the performance of the learners.

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