A review of the development and interaction of research involving second language contrastive analysis, error analysis, and interlanguage demonstrates how different assumptions and theoretical preconceptions have affected the results of such research, and the degree to which the research areas have drawn on the other areas. (39 references) (CB)

Fossilization is a the term used generally to denote what appears to be a state of permanent failure on the part of a second-language learner to acquire a given feature of the target language. This article reviews different accounts of this phenomenon and offers another account. The implications of this new account of fossilization for…

Attempts to measure translation quality raise important questions about the nature of textual transfer, the relationship between source- and target-language texts, and translation functions. Examination of a typical advertising text, translated from English to German, shows the degree of freedom with which texts are manipulated in professional…

Examines three experimental studies deriving from contrastive analysis predictions and error analysis insights into deviances from expected target language forms. Each of these studies predate the Interlanguage hypothesis. (CB)

Discusses phonological errors and their causes in the language performance of beginning to advanced Slovak grammar school students learning English as a foreign language under conditions suggested by G. Nickel (1989). Errors in perception, production, and perception/production are shown to be of different quality and distribution; interferential…

Analysis of form-oriented and content-oriented lexical errors made by advanced German learners of English covers: theoretical aspects of form-orientation; a taxonomy of form-oriented approximations; content-oriented approximations; traditional concepts (of semantic organization); empirical evidence; and strategies for second language learning. (CB)

The use of different communication strategies (CSs) in interlanguage application was studied with 51 Persian first-year university learners of English. Emphasis is on determining which CSs are more favored under a given condition and on identifying a link between task type and the use of specific CSs. (23 references) (LB)

Discusses variation in interlanguage and suggests two hypotheses to explain such variation as multiple internal representations of a form and processing errors. Suggests that second language learners can initially represent new forms as prototype schemas, and that such non-discrete representations are a third source of variation in interlanguage.…

Discusses how second-language learners whose first languages contain an article system differ in their acquisition of English articles from learners whose first languages do not contain such a system. Reviews the approach of Mizuno's (1988) interlanguage analysis for uncovering the process in second-language acquisition, and summarizes findings of…

Examines how second-language learners compensate for their target language deficiency in communication using the One to One Principle of interlanguage communication. Results indicate that target language aspects not adhering to one-to-one mapping between semantic and surface elements are problematic to the learners and are seemingly acquired late.…

Reports a study investigating how multilingual language learners evaluate their own multilingualism, how they view the interaction of their different languages, and whether they think the different languages help or hinder them when speaking, listening, understanding, or writing the foreign languages. Ways in which these perceptions can be used to…

A study of error patterns of Arabic-speaking learners of French at a Jordanian university revealed a negative influence of Arabic polysemic words on the learning and use of French vocabulary. It is recommended that second-language instruction make use of explicit instruction in vocabulary that, in the native language, has multiple meanings. (MSE)

Examines whether negotiation addresses the need of second- language (L2) learners to focus attention on L2 form. The study analyzed the utterances of negotiation produced as 20 English native speaker-nonnative speaker (NS-NNS) dyads engaged in communication tasks. Negotiation assisted the NNS needs for data on features that were possible in the…