An attempt to refute the opinion that true bilingualism is acquired only in early childhood. The discussion arises from experience with bilingual adults. The results of the study lead to recommendations on the production of materials for the teaching of foreign languages. (Author/AMH)

Examines the relationship between language universals and language acquisition, comparing data from studies on first and second language acquisition and universals of relative clause formation. It is concluded that second language acquisition data provide a clearer window for the investigation and verification of language universals than first…

Reports on an experiment designed to test French secondary students' intuitive understanding of the nuances among six semantic categories of the structure "'etre' plus past participle," and their ability to translate these nuances into a second language (English or Spanish). (AM)

Discusses the teaching of derivatives of irregular Spanish verbs in order to reinforce irregular patterns and increase the students' active vocabularies. (NCR)

Suggests that children learning English as a second language will profit more from interaction in meaningful situations with native speakers of English than from separate language instruction with other nonnative learners. (DD)

Four positions concerning foreign and second language learning ability in adults are summarized with attention to the "critical period" hypothesis. An argument is made for a shift from macro-correlational studies to controlled micro language learning research free of extralinguistic variables. (PMJ)

Reports on a study designed to investigate the results of intensive sentence-combining practice on the written and oral syntactic fluency of college students of French. (AM)

Discusses various experiments involving the teaching of vocabulary through the use of mnemonics, and describes an experiment which sought to test the effectiveness of the mnemonic method in acquiring writing skills in the foreign vocabulary. (AM)

Sequence of consonants in English and Arabic is discussed phonologically. It is suggested that such detailed contrastive studies are useful to: (1) second language teachers in pinpointing areas for classroom attention, (2) language typologists, and (3) typists and printers. (JB)

Defines the practical functions of various types of grammars, and theoretical functions of linguistic grammars. Points out some differences between the two (stressing contrast between native and foreign languages), as well as differences in defining, finality, or variation of categories, and in psycho- and sociolinguistic components. (IFS/WGA)

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)

Describes a research project carried out in Sweden to study the acquisition of Swedish syntax of negation by adult second language learners. (CFM)

Evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that informal and formal environments contribute to different aspects of second language competence, the former affecting acquired competence and the latter affecting learned competence. Data is presented that suggests that the classroom can be used simultaneously as a formal and informal linguistic…

Examines the role that Universal Grammar (UG) plays in the early stages of the acquisition of Japanese as a second language (L2) by adults. Addresses whether a nonparametrized principle of UG that is instantiated in the first language (L1) is "active enough" in the early stages of L2 learning to apply to phenomena for which there are no…

Looks at systematicity from the perspective of two putative discourse universals related to topic continuity that have been addressed separately in past studies of article acquisition. Examines how these discourse universals account for patterns of article use and nonuse in narratives written by Finnish- and Swedish-speaking learners of English.…