Past research has emphasized the universality of grammar acquisition over key differences, resulting in the development of a number of one-size-fits-all approaches to grammar instruction. Because such approaches fail to consider disparities of grammatical features, they are often ineffective. Just as a doctor needs to diagnose an illness and…

It is proposed that in the teaching and testing of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL), emphasis should be placed on features that are universal to all languages rather than particular to Chinese. Shared properties of Chinese and other languages, particularly English, are illustrated through examination of three major language components:…

A novel approach is examined for using developmental sequence data for deciding between Universal Grammar-based and problem solving models of adult nonnative grammatical development. Results support the Universal Grammar-based model of nonnative language acquisition. (19 references) (Author/LB)