Argues that the role of a psychological knowledge must be restricted to the understanding of human learning and that more emphasis should be placed on research knowledge about the second language teaching-learning process, of which there currently is very little. (EKN)

Focuses on the relationship between involuntary verbal rehearsal, Piaget's egocentric speech, Vygotsky's inner speech, and the song stuck in my head phenomena. It is hypothesized that song may act as a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) activator or be a strategy of the LAD in the ontogenetic development of language. (28 references) (Author/VWL)

Reports a study investigating the status of thematic verbs in second language acquisition (SLA) of Chinese by French-speaking, German-speaking, and English-speaking learners. Provides evidence that the thematic verb does not raise in SLA of Chinese, which casts doubt on the reliability of these hypotheses in the second language literature.…

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers strive to understand the language and exchanges that learners generate in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Doughty and Long (2003) advocate replacing open-ended SCMC with task-based language teaching (TBLT) design principles. Since most task-based SCMC (TB-SCMC) research addresses an…

Past research demonstrates that first language (L1)-like competence in each language can be attained in simultaneous acquisition of bilingualism by mere exposure to the target languages. The question is whether this is also true for the "weaker" language (WL). The WL hypothesis claims that the WL differs fundamentally from monolingual L1 and…

Previous research has devoted a great deal of attention to describing the long-term patterns and relationships among trait-level or situation-specific variables. The present discussion extracts kernels of wisdom, based on the literatures on language anxiety and language learning motivation, that are used to frame the argument that choosing to…

This paper examines the ideologies of language which underpin mainstream applied linguistic research and educational policy generation for English language teaching in Japan. Over the last 30 years a burgeoning literature has devoted itself to the task of researching and directing English language education in Japan, but has, by its own admission,…

The acquisition of English verbal morphology has been mostly tested as a second language (L2) in English-speaking settings (Bardovi-Harlig, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c, 1998; Bardovi-Harlig & Bergstrom, 1996; Bayley, 1991, 1994), more rarely as a foreign language (e.g., Robison, 1990, 1995), in only one cross-sectional study with native speakers of French…

This article challenges the categorisation of English into national forms, arguing that this obscures differences in usage within a nation and ignores genres and registers that exist around the world. Further, I suggest that in addition to examining the spread of English around the world, scholars should study the ubiquity of various discourses…

The Centre for Applied Language Research at the University of Southampton is one of two research centres within the discipline of Modern Languages. Established in 2004, CALR now has more than 50 members, predominantly faculty members working in the School of Humanities/Modern Languages, as well as growing number of postgraduate researchers. The…

Discusses study which looked at the variance from target language norms in second-language behavior which arises in semantic information in individual words. Results suggest that study of grammar as a knowledge of basic lexical classifications requires little attention because work class identifications learned in L1 are smoothly transferred to…

Reports on research related to phonemic contrasts in the learning of second language pronunciation. Identifies three interesting learning situations that involve the target language's having different phonemic contrasts from the native language. (Author/VWL)

Presents a theory of inductive learning--Autonomous Induction Theory--a form of induction that takes place within the autonomous and modular representational systems of the language faculty. Argues that Autonomous Induction Theory is constrained enough to be taken seriously as a plausible approach to explaining second language acquisition.…

Clahsen and Felser (CF) present a thought-provoking article that is likely to have a strong impact on the field, in particular, on developmental psycholinguistics and second language (L2) acquisition research. Unlike the majority of previous work on language acquisition that focused on "competence," that is, the knowledge basis underlying grammar,…

This volume collects empirical studies applying Conversation Analysis to situations where second, third and other additional languages are used. A number of different aspects are considered, including how linguistic systems develop over time through social interaction, how participants 'do' language learning and teaching in classroom and everyday…