What are the similarities and differences between first languageacquisition (FLA) and second language acquisition (SLA)? Why do allhuman beings acquire their first language so thoroughly, quickly andeasily, while so many struggle long and hard to achieve only modestproficiency in other languages they subsequently try to learn? Thisbook focuses on the development of syntax and morphology inmonolingual and bilingual FLA, and child and adult SLA, against thebackground of the principles and parameters of Chomskyangrammar. A meticulous, critical dissection of research, speculation andtheorising leads the author to the following broad conclusions:FLA proceeds through the successive triggering of clusters ofsuperficially unrelated features, which are nevertheless dependent onthe same underlying components of Universal Grammar (UG). Thesefeatures emerge abruptly and are immediately firmly anchored in thelearner's grammar. The sequence in which clusters of features areacquired is invariable for all learners. SLA, in contrast, is characterisedby trial and error, alternation of correct and incorrect forms, gradualapproximation towards native forms, and considerable individualvariation. Still, SLA does show evidence of universal L1-independentacquisition sequences, though these are different from those in FLA. These similarities and differences are posited to result from differentunderlying mechanisms. In FLA, innate knowledge (UG) is activatedand parameters are set according to the properties of the languagethe child is exposed to. In SLA, even from a very early age, parameterscannot be reset and learners resort to other learning strategies: item-by-item lexical learning, inductive learning, etc. Some such strategiesoperate with surface properties of the input and can result in erroneousforms that violate principles of UG. However, SLA still permits access toprinciples of UG that do not require parameter setting. The result is thatSLA grammars are 'hybrid' systems in which forms that appear native-like may nevertheless represent non-native-like underlying knowledge.The text makes frequent reference to studies of FLA and SLA ofvarious languages, principally German, French and English. Theauthor consistently argues the need for theoretical rigour and soundempirical investigation, and is careful to point out the limitations ofthis book. This is obviously not the last word on the subject, but it iscertainly a convincing interpretation, from one perspective, of whathas been achieved so far and what remains to be done.28 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.ukREVIEWSMultilingual Matters, 2011,xii + 324 pp;ISBN 978-1-84769-430-0Paperback £29.95Translation andOppositionEdited by Dimitris Asimakoulas and Margaret RogersThe 17 case studies in this highly-recommended volume illustratetranslation as a process of contextually-determined transformation orevolution in which power struggles, ideological conflicts, censorshipand identity issues motivate various kinds of unfaithfulness to a sourcetext. As one contributor comments: 'Translators or rewriters are notinnocent bystanders.'The studies cover a wide range of geographical, historical andpolitical contexts. Ibsen is introduced to a Chinese audience, throughselective translations and an influential critical essay, as a 'doctor' whodiagnoses the ills of 'our' society; his oeuvre becomes a vehicle forthe translator's agenda. In rewritings of a Turkish folktale, literarymotivation and political stance are intertwined; the author of oneversion is introduced as the 'compiler and corrector' of the story. An ideologically-inspired 19th-century re-adaptation of a classicalGreek drama recasts it as a Romantic melodrama with a happy ending.A modern Turkish novelist describes herself as a translator, not a writer;she 'translates the mute, "tongueless" world of the dispossessed intothe language of this world'. Code-switching in Italian-Canadianwriting functions as a device for expressing inclusion and exclusion,cooperation and non-cooperation, and the migration of identities. The struggle to establish a particular Greek translation of theCommunist Manifesto as the only correct one is also a struggle toestablish ownership of the ideology it contains. Interpreters in theAuschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp do more than interpret in theusual sense; they also intervene in order to help their fellow-prisoners.In post-Yugoslavia, translation becomes 'a political tool for theconstruction of differences'. Many chapters question the boundaries between translation andother text-types. Translating is seen, for example, as a kind ofreporting, and 'the choice between subservience and opposition isnot an issue specific to translators, but one faced by all those who are called upon to report the discourse of others.' Or, in a quotationfrom Theo Hermans, translation is 'direct speech contaminated byindirect speech, an impure mix of direct and indirect discourse inwhich several simultaneous voices have a stake. The margin betweenframe and enactment contains the potential for dissonance as well as consonance.'Reviews by Jonathan Marks MCILCambridge University Press, 2011,xviii + 302 pp; ISBN 978-0-521-55764-1Paperback £22.99 ISBN 978-0-521-55294-3Hardback £65First and SecondLanguage AcquisitionJürgen M Meisel

Vol/51 No/1 2012FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist29REVIEWSWhat a refreshing and entertaining book. It has something for everyoneinterested in translating and interpreting, whether they want ahumorous read or are focused on learning something serious and newabout a subject they know well. Author David Bellos is Professor andDirector of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communicationat Princeton University. He is also the prizewinning translator of theFrench experimental writer Georges Perec and of the Albanian IsmailKadare. His new publication combines the lessons of his considerableexperience in translating with a witty eye for detail, bolstered by somecareful research into the history, present and future of translation.The aim of the book, as Bellos tells us in the prologue, is'understanding what translation does'. This he manages to do byreferring to more or less every mode and a wide range of languages:the origins of translation in the ancient world, the translation of theBible, translation in China, Japan and India, the dragomans of theOttoman Empire, interpreting at Nuremberg, the challenges ofdubbing,the workings of the editing room of international news desks,inside information on legal translating and conference interpreting atthe UN, the advances in machine translation, etc, etc. He alsotouches on some key questions of language and translation: theorigins of language, literal translation, equivalence in meaning,features of translated language, recognising idiolect and dialect, whatis a native speaker, the effect of asymmetrical power relations betweenlanguages and cultures (translating UP and DOWN as he puts it).The playfulness of the book is emphasised by some of the funnyexamples -thus, in his discussion on code-switching, Bellos remembersan acquaintance in France who would greet him in English with thewords 'Peace and Love', pronounced 'pissanlerv'. Visually playful isthe manipulation of fonts in the chapter headings, such as 'AFish inYour Ear: The Short History of Simultaneous interpreting', the chapterthat lends its name (borrowed from the Babel fish of Douglas Adams'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)to the title of the book. Thedeliberate hyperbole of the book's subtitle, 'Translation and themeaning of everything', might have been avoided since it doesn't givedue credit to the wealth of information discussed, in an accessibleway, between its covers. But the potential reader should not bedissuaded. This is a book that values and celebrates translation.Prof Jeremy Munday MCILParticular Books, 2011, ISBN 9781846144646 Hardback £20Is That a Fish in Your Ear? David Bellos1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829This puzzle celebrates someonewho worked to relieve theproblems of internationalcommunication. Hidden in thegrid in a top R to bottom L andtop L to bottom R direction arehis name and a version of thepseudonym under which hisbrainchild was originally published.Across9Alternatively all summon guest tomeet old boy. (7) 10Areas of Kenya, Congo or Brazilhave little latitude. (7) 11According to Ms Hathaway, oneof the great impressionist painters. (7) 12Mediterranean sailing ships inciteBasque group to look back in Frenchtown. (7) 13Deem each short man to betortured, like a soul in the works ofSartre. (3,6) 15Sounds like this scavenger isgreeting a girl. (5) 16Formerly acted as a model and sorevealed all. (7)19Most of 12 ac gets time beforeadulthood. (7)20Sticky Italian meals? (5) 21Under decrees of old king, saladsoften contain one of these. (9)25Likewise eastern prey swaps rightfor left. (7)26Nightclub employee posesproblem to batsman. (7)28 Germanic location where non-drinker is set in local stone. (7)29A foe, raw, angry, holds back inthe picture. (5,2)Down1Italian motor manufacturer suggestsspy agency follows endless plans. (6)2Signs of drowsiness occupy astubborn character. It's one way toshut him up. (6)3But will the author's identity berevealed soon? (4) 4Pakistan deserts Russian author atrear of ship. (6)5Healthily maintained source,perhaps. (4-4)6Arrange for these studs to keepyour furniture clean. (10)7And this French epoque for all theothers. (8) 8Does this equine event precedethe heyday of trousers? (8)14Parisian site of a terminal battle. (10)16Quick, black, strong one in Italy. (8)17German trombones confuse anew spouse. (8)18Shy one restrained by formerChinese leader for laying a falsetrail. (8)22Lippy Latvian bites almonds forstarters. (6) 23German city restricts longing to anorthern border. (6)24Employees have right to rake withmachine-gun fire. (6)27Primarily upland Russian arealandscape in river (4)Solutions page 31.