This study examines the acquisition of English irregular inflections by Yemeni learners of English as a second language (L2), utilizing a Universal Grammar (UG) approach. Within the UG approach, the study considers Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH) (Lardiere, 2008, 2009) part of UG, focusing on the roles of first language (L1) transfer and L2 developmental influence. It analyzes learner errors across two developmental stages. Stage 1 data reveal a dominant influence of L1 transfer, particularly in phonological and structural mismatches, while stage 2 data demonstrate increased learner sensitivity to UG properties and morphological reconfiguration toward the target language. Findings reveal that errors in irregular inflectional morphology are attributed to both interlingual and intralingual sources, with overgeneralization of L2 rules as a common developmental strategy. Statistical analysis, including a one-way ANOVA, indicates significant improvement in the production of well-formed irregular inflections from stage 1 to stage 2, underscoring learners' continued access to UG. However, persistent difficulties with consonant change, zero-morpheme, and -a plural inflections suggest that limited exposure, ineffective input modeling, and insufficient instructional quality constrain full UG access. The study concludes that while L1 transfer and L2 developmental factors influence initial stages of acquisition, appropriate linguistic input and instruction are critical for facilitating UG-driven feature reassembly in adult L2 learners.

翻译：本研究采用普遍语法理论框架，考察也门英语学习者对英语不规则屈折形态的习得过程。在普遍语法视角下，研究将特征重组假说纳入理论体系，重点探讨母语迁移与二语发展性影响的作用机制。通过分析学习者两个发展阶段中的错误类型，发现阶段一数据呈现明显的母语迁移主导效应，尤其在音系和结构错配方面表现显著；而阶段二数据则显示学习者对普遍语法特性的敏感度提升，并向目标语形态系统进行重构。研究结果表明，不规则屈折形态错误同时源于语际干扰和语内发展因素，其中二语规则的过度泛化是常见的发展策略。单因素方差分析显示，从阶段一到阶段二，学习者正确产出不规则屈折形态的能力显著提升，印证了普遍语法的持续可及性。然而，对辅音变换、零语素及-a复数屈折变化的持续困难表明，有限的语言接触、低效的输入示范及不足的教学质量制约了普遍语法的完全激活。本研究结论指出：虽然母语迁移和二语发展因素影响习得初始阶段，但恰当的语言输入与教学指导对促进成人二语学习者的普遍语法驱动型特征重组具有关键作用。