A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse-pragmatic conditions…

Classic studies in second language (L2) learning offer little evidence for the validity of the notion of universals in L2 learning. The present study investigates this notion in data collected from 15 observational studies of 40 L2 learners who acquired the L2 naturally, that is, they were not taught the language in any formal ways. Interpretation…

The article criticizes present-day overemphasis of contrastive analysis procedures in second language instruction. Recommendations are for language teachers to reappraise their classroom objectives and to give paramount importance to mastery of language use rather than mastery of language structure. Pedagogical procedures based on situational…