The Acquisition of Spanish

“This book is an essential resource for all Hispanic linguistic collections. Montrul makes clear assertions and is able to support them. Although she highlights the similarities in L1, 2L1, and adult L2 acquisition in terms of linguistic representations and processes, she also thoughtfully considers the observable differences among them, especially in terms of differences in ultimate attainment. In doing so, this work sits at the cutting edge of contemporary research in generative L2 acquisition, which has attempted to address observable target-deviant aspects of L2 language while assuming adult UG-continuity. This work is a primary source for contemporary Hispanic linguistic research that will be cited for many years to come.”

“The book admirably fills a gap in acquisition literature by bringing together Spanish data and theoretical discussion that have previously been dispersed and by opening a dialogue among the three instances of acquisition in Spanish and other languages.

'The Acquisition of Spanish' is well written and follows a good and consistent organization of the data and theoretical issues. The general and chapter-internal organization of the book, the subject and author indexes, and cross-referencing make it not only reader-friendly but also flexible for readers of diverse interests. The book can be read as a whole, or one may choose a grammatical phenomenon and follow it in the three instances of language acquisition. Alternatively, a reader may focus on one debate in one of the acquisition situations and follow it across the different sets of empirical data.

Overall, Montrul's "The Acquisition of Spanish" is a valuable book for anyone interested in theoretical and developmental issues of acquisition in Spanish and other languages. For those interested mostly in one of the fields (first, second language or bilingual acquisition), it serves as an excellent window into the discussion of parallel issues in the other related areas. This book can also be of interest to theoretical linguists since data from acquisition, especially when considered as carefully as in this book, broaden the empirical base for the construction and evaluation of approaches to morphosyntactic knowledge and representation.

Montrul 'warns' us that this is neither an introductory overview nor a textbook, probably because of the previous knowledge it presupposes and because it clearly assumes and argues for a particular approach. However, I think her book would work as a fantastic reference and source of data and discussion for acquisition courses in which students have some previous knowledge of generative linguistics and previous or supplemented knowledge of methodology in psycholinguistic research.”

“In The Acquisition of Spanish, Montrul delivers a thorough and far-reaching treatise on current morphosyntactic issues in the acquisition of Spanish as a first and second language. The end result is a manuscript that is at once a sourcebook and a model for state-of-the-art research. It is comprehensive, theoretically informed, and methodologically rigorous, a hallmark of Montrul's scholarship.”

“This is a valuable resource for researchers interested in first language acquisition, simultaneous bilingualism in early childhood, adult second language acquisition, and/or the acquisition of Spanish. Montrul enhances the value of the book further by providing readers with access to 'studies published in journals with limited international circulation, and studies conducted as part of doctoral dissertations, some of which are written in Spanish or Catalan.”

“This volume constitutes a comprehensive and well-referenced text and is an excellent source on the current issues of the acquisition of Spanish. It should be of interest not only to researchers who study the acquisition of Spanish, but also to acquisitionists in general.”

“This is well written and is generally well informed, compendious, comprehensive and well referenced and, for this reason alone, worth publishing as a useful account of generative research done into the acquisition of Spanish.”