On the Transfer of Parametric Values in L2 Development

White (e.g., 1990/1991; 1992a) argued that grammatical representations in second-language development can be understood in terms of parametric values that are transferred from the learner's native language. Schwartz (1993a; 1993b) and Schwartz and Sprouse (1994) push this view of transfer to its logical limit: The initial state of L2 acquisition is determined in its entirety by the parametric values of the native language. This article presents early-stage learner data that are not compatible with this strong view of parametric transfer. An alternative proposal is made, a weak transfer view in which lexical and functional projections transfer, and the headedness of those projections transfers, but morphology-driven values of features like the strength of agreement do not transfer. This idea is checked against learner data and is also evaluated for the extent to which it follows in a principled fashion from linguistic theory.