Looks at recent research on learners' intake of a second language and concludes that second language research has inadequately explored the process of intake. Argues that both theory and the research derived from it need to develop consistent, well-defined models and methods for investigating language learners' processing of input. (SED)

Revives Eric Hawkins' idea of a language "trivium" where language awareness activities should fill the space between the learner's two languages. Draws a distinction between awareness and consciousness of language and suggests that cross-linguistic relationships are a major source of input salience strengthening, due to bilinguals'…

Responds to comments made regarding an earlier article written by the author on processing instruction in second language learning. (Author/VWL)

A systematic analysis of the French interrogative focuses on the distinction between the syntactic processes (identification of question words, interrogative phrase preposing, and rules of question formation) and phonological processes (intonation patterns) that characterize questions in French. (Author/MSE)

Hudson addressed two issues on second-language acquisition: the validity of the multidimensional model and the application of developmental sequence findings to assessment and pedagogy. This response suggests that his lines of argument are based on serious conceptual flaws. (Contains 37 references.) (LB)

Argues that the concept of subjective theory and the corresponding methodology have considerable potential for second-language research in terms of building adequate models of second-language learning, teaching, and production; developing adequate methodology to analyze the mental processes underlying second-language learning, teaching, and…

Presents recent investigations in idiomatic language processing, and advances new foci of research from the comprehension and interpretation of phrasal idioms. Concludes that the development of idiomatic competence can be enhanced by establishing the parameters of the comprehension and interpretation process of second language phrasal idioms.…

Examined the effects of semantic and structural elaboration on second language lexical acquisition. English-speaking low-intermediate Spanish learners attempted to learn 24 new Spanish words in three conditions. Results provide evidence that increased semantic processing can inhibit the ability to encode the formal properties of new words.…

The frame of reference for this article is second or foreign language (L2 or FL) acquisition, but the pragmatic bootstrapping hypothesis applies to language processing and acquisition in any context or modality. It is relevant to teaching children to read. It shows how connections between target language surface forms and their content can be made…

The increase of multilingualism in both natural and formal contexts has provoked a number of studies which have concentrated on providing evidence of multilingual processing and finding out about the differences and similarities between second and third language learning. This paper deals with the use of metalanguage in multilingual students in an…

This essay by Truscott and Sharwood-Smith is a valiant attempt with a laudable goal. It seeks to show how different perspectives and disciplines can capture what is happening in acquisition and notably in L2 acquisition. Nonetheless, I think that the results are much closer to an elaborated grammatical theory than an elaborated processing theory…

In this article we examine language processing and development in Catalan or Spanish-speaking children with SLI, focusing on the study of the verb. We analyse the key initial phase of its process of acquisition and aim to define common features of the SLI group that distinguish them from children with normal language development. We intend to…

In this paper we discuss how the Brigham Young University Technology Assisted Language Learning Group (BYU TALL Group) develops video-based dramatic narratives to increase the amount of context we provide to English as a second language (ESL) learners. First, we discuss the problem of decontextualization in education, the contextualism…

This article reports on a crosslinguistic comparative study of the processing of Japanese relative clauses (RCs) by Chinese-, Sinhalese-, Vietnamese-, Thai-, and Indonesian-speaking second language (L2) learners. A robust finding in studies on the acquisition of RCs in L2 English and other European languages is that subject-gap RCs are easier than…

Learner corpora, electronic collections of spoken or written data from foreign language learners, offer unparalleled access to many hitherto uncovered aspects of learner language, particularly in their error-tagged format. This article aims to demonstrate the role that the learner corpus can play in CALL, particularly when used in conjunction with…