Developmental Sequences

Developmental sequences are the predictable orders in which L2 learners acquire specific grammatical structures, regardless of L1 background, age, or instructional context. This is one of the most robust findings in SLA research, with evidence from morpheme studies, negation, question formation, and relative clauses.

Morpheme Order Studies

Dulay and Burt (1973, 1974) used the Bilingual Syntax Measure to study English morpheme acquisition by L1 Spanish and L1 Chinese children. They found a remarkably consistent order across L1 groups: progressive -ing and plural -s were acquired early; third-person -s and possessive -s late. Bailey, Madden, and Krashen (1974) extended the finding to adults — the order held across ages, suggesting a universal acquisitional mechanism rather than L1 transfer.

Negation Stages

Research on English negation (Schumann, 1979; Cancino, Rosansky & Schumann, 1978) identified four stages: (1) external negation (no like), (2) internal pre-verbal negation (I no like), (3) don't as unanalyzed chunk, (4) target-like auxiliary negation (I don't like). Learners pass through these stages in order; skipping is not observed.

Question Formation

Pienemann, Johnston, and Brindley (1988) documented six stages for English question formation, from single-word or formulaic questions (Where?) through fronting (Where he go?) to inversion (Where does he go?) and complex embedding (Can you tell me where he went?). These stages align with Processability Theory.

Implications for Teaching

The existence of developmental sequences means a synthetic syllabus that teaches structures in an arbitrary order will inevitably attempt to teach structures learners are not yet ready to acquire. Instruction can accelerate the rate of development but cannot alter the route (Pienemann, 1985; R. Ellis, 1989). This is a foundational argument for TBLT over structurally sequenced syllabuses.

References

• Dulay, H. & Burt, M. (1974). Natural sequences in child second language acquisition. Language Learning, 24(1), 37–53.
• Pienemann, M., Johnston, M. & Brindley, G. (1988). Constructing an acquisition-based procedure for second language assessment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10(2), 217–243.
• Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Routledge.