The tendency for negation to appear early in the sentence, dubbed the "Neg-First principle" by Horn (1989:452), has been observed in the domains of typology, language contact, and language acquisition. Based on evidence from these fields, scholars have speculated about the source and universality of Neg-First biases affecting language…

An alternative method of language learning is proposed based on the theory of "Personal Construct Psychology." It is suggested as a resolution of the impasse that seems to exist between linguistic and psychological theories of learning. Certain techniques are offered to enable learners to exteriorize their cognitive categories and their…

The problem of interference caused by linguistic transfer in second language learning does not increase with the number of languages that the student has acquired. The ability to learn a second, third, or fourth language depends on what Chomsky calls "the language acquisition device," which is a capacity or a sensitivity formed by a combination of…

Examines the loss in popularity of contrastive linguistics as a method for explaining second language learning systems, and calls for a turn to pragmatics in language teaching. (AM)