Discusses and defends the innateness hypothesis - that a component of the human mind is a species-specific language learning mechanism--and discusses some implications of that hypothesis. (RM)

Papers are presented from a conference that dealt with the similarities and differences between first and second language learning, ways of assessing the relationships, methodological procedures, and implications for development of procedures for teaching language handicapped children. The papers are presented under the following headings: (1)…

Discusses the teacher's role and methods for teaching the function of language and the specialized vocabulary for reflective written and spoken communication. (RB)

Failure in FL teaching is caused primarily by the theoretical view of language on which methodology has been based. A new theoretical base is required which is to be found in psycholinguistic research. The purpose of this paper is to inform the FL teacher of recent results of such research. (Author/KM)

A description of a study which tried to establish the sequence of language development in a language other than English (Farsi) and to measure the syntactic complexity of the first language against that of the second. Results indicate a direction toward the construction of better course materials and tests. (AMH)

This article discusses a small-scale study that explored students', teachers', and university lecturers' beliefs about the value of studying English grammar in foreign and second language learning. A major debate in second language acquisition literature has been concerned with experiential (implicit) learning as opposed to analytical (explicit)…

Errors in second language learning are viewed as evidence of the learner's hypotheses and strategies about the new data. Error observation and analysis are important to the formulation of theories about language learning and the preparation of teaching materials. Learning a second language proceeds by a series of approximative reorganizations…