What is the 'L2 initial state'?
state’ refers to the starting point of non-native grammatical knowledge. This lacuna is particularly surprising within the framework of generativist L2 acquisition research. Even among those who maintain that L2 development is in some sense guided or constrained by the principles of Universal Grammar (UG),’ there are no standard assumptions regarding the linguistic properties of the initial system which will be modified or elaborated upon by the interaction of input and UG during the course of L2 development. The three articles in this thematic issue of Second Language Research2 seek to address this important research topic, which in one sense continues the long tradition of L2 acquisition research concerned with determining the extent of native-language (Ll) influence, but in another sense breaks new theoretical ground.’ A brief foray into the debate surrounding the initial state of Ll acquisition will perhaps help to show how the topic of the L2 initial state as conceived here is novel.