Discusses several objections to Krashen's Input Hypothesis which states that language acquisition is the learners' understanding of a language at a stage slightly higher than their current one because of their understanding of extralinguistic cues of the language. (Author/LMO)

Uses data from English-speaking children learning French in the Toronto French Immersion Program as evidence to support the 1981 study by Gundel and Tarone on the acquisition of pronouns by Chinese- and Spanish-speaking adults learning English. This study concluded that the acquisition of direct object pronouns proceeds in three stages. (SED)

Argues for the studying of the language learning process itself, rather than doing contrastive or error analyses for determining the source of error in second language acquisiton. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies can help determine the language learning stages. A multidimensional model of language learning is proposed. (PJM)

An experiment with 100 German students of French showed that with the word "profond" the students' semantic associations were based on the mother tongue, whereas with the word "rapide" they were more oriented to the French syntax. Semantic problems are both linguistic and sociocultural in nature. (IFS/WGA)

A list of 103 books, articles, working papers, and other publications focuses on two areas of research on multilingualism: (1) studies of two language groups learning a common third language and transfer from non-native and native languages in foreign and second language learning (78 entries); and (2) other linguistic and psycholinguistic works on…

The stages of interlanguage, the speech of beginning second language learners as they progress toward second language fluency, are described. Examples are drawn from the speech of Spanish speaking students of English as a second language. The continuum of interlanguage development from native language forms to target language forms includes three…

This paper describes a preliminary study which focuses on the syllable structure of interlanguage and begins to identify some of the processes which shape that interlanguage. Adults learning English as a second language in a formal classroom situation were recorded as they described a series of pictures in English. Two subjects were native…

An attempt is made to describe second language behavior and language transfer in cybernetic terms. This should make it possible to translate language into machine language and to clarify psycholinguistic explanations of second language performance. (PMJ)

A descriptive model elaborated to account for the rhythmic organization of French and English is applied to the speech of French learners of English to identify the particular type of cross-linguistic influence operating therein. Evidence is presented for the existence of transitional rhythmic groups, perceived in the interlanguage vowel reduction…

It is suggested that although patterns learned as a part of native language acquisition may interfere with learning a second language, the use of metalanguages may promote an understanding of the native language that in turn contributes to learning others. Specific examples of classroom exercises are included. (MSE)

Discusses the influence a first language can have on the acquisition of a second language. Includes some tentative proposals on the interaction of prior first-language knowledge and the creative construction process. (EKN)

Responds to a reanalysis of study findings that refute the claim that negative evidence can lead to parameter setting in second-language acquisition, presenting empirical evidence from French learners of English, suggesting that positive second-language acquisition data do not guarantee the loss of native language parameter settings. (26…

Research on the role of the first language (L1) in second language (L2) learning is reviewed, offering historical background but focusing primarily on work within the last two decades. Attention is given mainly to two aspects of the L1-L2 relationship: positive transfer of knowledge from L1 in the process of learning L2, and negative transfer, or…

This paper attempts to provide a framework within which the terminology used to talk about the learner's interlanguage may be defined so as to represent categories of types of interlanguage phenomena which are often discussed by teachers and researchers interested in second language acquisition. Several distinct types of "communication…

Investigates the role of topic-comment structure and the frequency of topic-prominence in the oral interlanguage of Chinese- Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-, Farsi-, and Spanish-speaking adult students of English as a second language. Results indicate that second language learning is generally characterized by an early topic-comment stage, independent…