(2006) who propose that creoles reflect processes of second language acquisition. On this topic, I evaluate the positions and compare the views of Plag (2008) and Lefebvre et al. In contrast to that approach, for other scholars, creoles instantiate features of the interlanguage found in second language acquisition.

According to this view, creoles supposedly share similar syntactic features because they instantiate an innate language bioprogram that is activated in the chaotic environment in which pidgins and creoles typically emerge (I focus on Bickerton, 1984, 1999, 2014 and compare the claims he makes in his earlier and latest works). I show that distinct motivations and arguments underlie the idea that creoles form a “type” of languages.

In this chapter, I focus on three main topics: I examine the syntactic properties that have been presented as differentiating creoles from other natural languages, and I evaluate proposals that argue that specific clusters of syntactic features are attested across a wide range of creoles, casting them as a “type” of languages in so doing, I report on the assumptions behind such assertions (Bickerton, 1984, 1999, 2014).

Hawaiian pidgin