Carter, Diana M2013-11-082013-11-0820082008Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-02, Section: A, page: 0549.http://hdl.handle.net/10393/29541http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-19799This dissertation takes as its central focus the primary acquisition of the mass-count distinction in English and Spanish and the non-primary acquisition of the mass-count distinction in Spanish by English speakers. We compare the distinction in both languages and examine the problems that may arise from the acquisition of the distinction in a first and second language. Current research examining the acquisition of the mass-count distinction has been primarily concerned with early language acquisition. In particular, first language research has looked at the use of language constraints and biases that may facilitate early language acquisition in general, and specifically of mass and count nouns. It has been hypothesized that children are born with constraints and biases that facilitate the acquisition process. One question that arises is whether or not these biases are universal or dependent on the specific language. Our first study aimed to answer this question by comparing the use of substance (water/agua) and object (meat/carne ) mass nouns by Spanish and English children. The findings from the English and Spanish data led us to hypothesize that the biases may be affected by language specifics. Our second study is concerned with the role of the first language in the non-primary acquisition of the mass-count distinction in Spanish. We proposed that the participants would produce fewer target responses in their experimental tasks for nouns that are more 'flexible' in Spanish than in English. This prediction was based on the hypothesis that for the nouns that have a similar status in both languages there would be a positive influence from the first language, whereas for non-equivalents there would be an opposite effect. Our results support these hypotheses.220 p.enLanguage, Linguistics.Thesis