Responds to a previous article on research in second-language learning, challenging the need for discussion on the promises and problems, and asserting the need to report definitive results. (Author/JL)

Six tentative conclusions about the role of extrinsic feedback in interlanguage fossilization are presented and discussed in light of hypotheses made by Virgil and Oller regarding this phenomenon. Extrinsic factors are those characteristics of the learner which are oriented toward the environment and which act as the interface between the learner…

Native Speakers of English and Dutch teachers of English judged the English pronunciation of two Dutchmen, resulting in a fairly large area of consensus. In a second experiment, native English speakers and Dutch speakers of English judged the English pronunciation of both experienced and inexperienced Dutch speakers of English. (15 references)…

From perspective of a psycholinguist, discusses three leading questions that have arisen from foundational, descriptive second-language-acquisiton studies: Why are certain L2 constructions learnable and others not?; In considering input requirements, is it fair to say that adult learners can take advantage of metalinguistic information about the…

Describes the processes by which distinctive varieties of English develop in areas where English functions as a second language. The distinctions between rhetorical and communicative norms for speech events in these varieties are discussed. (Author/AM)