Revisiting Universal Grammar in L2 acquisition: Weak conformity and linguistic dissonance resolution

Abstract

This article explores the role of Universal Grammar (UG) in second language (L2) acquisition. Drawing on the weak conformity hypothesis (WCH), which posits that developing interlanguage grammars may temporarily deviate from UG but ultimately conform to it, the article proposes that UG functions as a linguistic dissonance resolution device (LDRD). In this framework, UG becomes active when learners adopt UG-incompatible rules or ‘wild grammars’ in their interlanguage, working to revise these inconsistencies so that they align with UG constraints. In contrast to standard assumptions, I argue that L2 learners do not necessarily explore only within UG bounds. Rather, UG plays a monitoring role: It detects UG-inconsistent rules and triggers revision. Such revisions can occur when feature selection or feature reassembly is required, as long as wild grammars are present in the learner’s interlanguage grammar. As addressed in this article, this account makes novel predictions about which features are acquirable or reconfigurable and which are not. Thus, the UG-as-LDRD proposal not only offers a potential solution to the poverty-of-the-stimulus problem in L2 acquisition, but also provides a broader explanatory scope that may surpass that of existing generative L2 hypotheses.