To understand whether a responsive parenting intervention for socially disadvantaged mothers was related to preintervention parenting resources, the authors examined both of these conditions as moderators of behavior change in 264 participating families (term, n = 120; very low birth weight, n = 144). Families were randomly assigned to an…

This study examined whether a younger starting age is advantageous in a situation of minimal exposure to an instructed foreign language ([less than or equal] 4 hours classroom contact per week). Previous theoretical and empirical studies indicated there should be no advantage for an earlier start. Japanese college students who started studying…

Children's language development is significantly affected by the quantity and quality of language input, particularly during infancy and toddlerhood. The purpose of this study was to compare the language environment in an accredited child care program with data collected by Hart and Risley (1995). Fourteen toddlers (mean age 24.4 months) were…

If first language is rational in the sense that acquisition produces an end-state model of language that is a proper reflection of input and that optimally prepares speakers for comprehension and production, second language is usually not. This paper considers the apparent irrationalities of L2 acquisition, that is the shortcomings where input…

It has been argued that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) use language in a conservative manner. For example, they are reluctant to produce word-plus-frame combinations that they have not heard in the input. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that their utterances replicate lexical and syntactic material from the immediate…

This article considers how 3 fundamental concepts of second language acquisition (SLA), the native speaker, interlanguage, and the language learner have fared since Firth and Wagner (1997). We review the ascendancy of these concepts and their relationship to the traditional dichotomies of language learning versus language use and individual mind…

In this article I provide evidence that despite frequently cited differences between child first language (L1) and adult second language (L2) speakers in overt behavior (performance) during grammatical development, the nature, source, and limits of implicit knowledge (competence) in native and second language grammars are equivalent (i.e., they…

Examined parental speech data demonstrating that linguistic input to children does not contain sufficient information to support unaided learning of the pronoun "one." Examined 18-month-olds' interpretation of sentences with a "one" substitution. Found that 18-month-olds have command of the syntax of "one." Because…

Reports on two studies on input enhancement used to support learners' selection of focus of attention in Spanish second language listening material. Input consisted of video recordings of dialogues between native speakers. Exact repetition and speech rate reduction were examined for effect on comprehension, acquisition of decoding strategies, and…

Phonological neighborhood analyses of tow children's expressive lexicons, maternal input, and an adult lexicon were conducted. In addition to raw counts and frequency-weighted counts, neighborhood size was calculated as the proportion of the lexicon to which each target word is similar, to normalize for vocabulary size differences. Analyses…

Responds to an Ellis (2002), which focuses on frequency in language processing, language use, and language acquisition, Emphasizes the importance of placing frequency in an overarching theoretical framework of language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Examined the relationship between caregiver input to 9-month-old infants and their subsequent language. Mother-infant dyads were videotaped at ages 9, 12, and 30 months. Language comprehension was measured by parent report and correlated with an independent language measure. Found that the total number of words mothers used when their infants were…

This paper focuses on the pedagogical beliefs and practices of immersion teachers in a large midwestern city. (JL)

Reviews five major findings of language research about the effect of explicit instruction and relates them to second-language teaching and learning, covering such areas as the route of acquisition, psycholinguistic readiness, error correction, classroom versus nonclassroom learning, and access to comprehensible and meaningful input. (37…

The type of relatively rapid speech modification sometimes called "accommodation" was examined by tracking change on the part of speakers of Honduran Spanish newly resident among speakers of Northern Mexican Spanish. Final /n/ velarization and spirantization both changed toward local norms, but local contact resulted in greater change…