Examines five cognitive models for second-language acquisition (SLA) and assesses how each might account for the Pidginized interlanguage found in the early stages of second-language acquisition. (23 references) (JL)

Discusses the "null prep phenomenon" reported in studies of the second language (L2) development of extraction constructions. Reviews a proposal that null prep grammars represent a generalized procedure in L2 development, that of early reliance on A-bar binding construals when the target grammar requires wh-movement. Offers an…

Presents a research agenda in which the study of interlanguage becomes more central to the study of interlanguage pragmatics, assessing the state of acquisition research in interlanguage pragmatics, surveying work in interlanguage pragmatics that either directly examines or appeals to grammatical competence, showing how acquisition studies in…

This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the variation underlying subject-verb agreement in the spoken French interlanguage of Irish classroom and study abroad learners. Results outline the range of factors constraining that variation, such as the learners' level of informal contact with the language, as well as linguistic factors such as…

This paper outlines some reasons for why gestures are relevant to the study of SLA. First, given cross-cultural and cross-linguistic gestural repertoires, gestures can be treated as part of what learners can acquire in a target language. Gestures can therefore be studied as a developing system in their own right both in L2 production and…

This study investigates the value of online enhanced corrective feedback for non-native speakers of English from (1) the quality of their interaction online, (2) their perceptions, and (3) the challenges encountered. Online enhanced feedback is an online peer tutoring technique that was developed from Negotiated Meaning and used by native speakers…

An analysis of intrasentential codeswitching patterns that refutes a common explanation is presented. It is suggested that the Matrix Language-Frame model, which claims codeswitching to be entirely a matter of sentence production, is inadequate to account for a common but hitherto unexplained phenomenon, the occurrence of "dummy" verbs under…

This paper reports on a study that attempts to investigate the acquisition orders of the English interrogatives established in three groups of Cantonese classroom learners. A goal of the study is to examine the effect of formal instruction on second language acquisition, to discover whether different intensity of classroom instruction has an…

This paper discusses two influential studies on relative clauses (RC), and addresses the development of relative clauses in the interlanguage of advanced Chinese English-as-a-Second-Language speakers in light of the theory of Accessibility Hierarchy (AH). As the two theories predict, avoidance of RCs is typically found with oblique and genitive…

Pidginization and creolization are addressed from a language acquisition perspective. The 18 collected papers are organized around four areas of inquiry: (1) simplification in input to pidginization and second language acquisition, (2) simplification in interlanguage, (3) creolization and language acquisition, and (4) decreolization and language…

The natural phonology theory, related to European structuralism, makes two fundamental assumptions: (1) phonemes are mental images of the sounds of language, and (2) phonological processes represent subconscious mental substitutions of one sound or class of sounds for another that are the natural response to the relative difficulties of sound…

The approach adopted can be characterized with respect to three types of problems in interlanguage studies: the choice of perspective, the relationship between learning and communication, and the ontological status of classes of interlanguage phenomena. This description of processes and strategies is based on the learner's viewpoint. Strategies…

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)

Investigates variability in interlanguage consonant cluster simplification strategies within the four factors--style, gender, proficiency, and interlocutor. Examined how these factors determine Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) speakers' production of English word-initial consonant clusters. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the relevance of principles of information organization in adult second language acquisition. Looks at typological features of information structure that allow speakers to organize and shape the flow of information when carrying out complex tasks and pinpoints factors that lead to the selection of linguistic form. The nature of the…