Second Language Syntax Acquisition

This paper explores the acquisition of syntactic properties in a second language. To understand how syntactic properties are acquired, a theoretical approach of Universal Grammar is presented, with an emphasis on the application of the Universal Grammar approach to second language acquisition. Acquisition of the following syntactic properties is being described: acquisition of morphemes, acquisition of negation and verb movement, acquisition of word order, acquisition of questions and acquisition of relative clauses. Second language teaching and learning in classroom settings is an important issue regarding second language acquisition. In this paper, some basic principles of teaching and learning a second language are outlined with connection to first language teaching.