From some psycholinguistic perspectives, this study examines language transfer by exploring the nature of the multilingual mental lexicon in relation to sources of language transfer. It assumes that the multilingual mental lexicon contains not only lexemes but also language-specific lemmas; language-specific lemmas may activate language-specific…

This article first presents an overview of some trends behind the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in a second language. A study is then presented that aims to test the validity of these trends in a quantitative study of a range of socio- and morpho-phonetic variables in French, including liaison, /l/ deletion, and subject-verb agreement…

Standard English has long been the unquestioned choice of a model for all language instruction, whether in native or non-native speaker countries. Fanned by the recent interest in new varieties of English, especially those in the Third World, there have been increasing claims that it is best in such English-as-a-Second-Language countries to set up…

Research on interlanguage (IL), the intermediary language produced by a speaker when it is perceptible that he is not a native speaker, has concentrated on procedures to stabilize interlanguage at a given point, and on stabilized products, rather than on the destabilization that occurs when learning is pursued. Although it has been widely accepted…

Explicit classroom correction of the second language learner's errors is unnecessary, because errors are indications of the learner's current hypothesis, which may not necessarily match the target rule, or they may indicate that no hypothesis has yet been formulated by the learner. Explicit correction may be harmful because students can be pushed…

Discusses the basis for "error rules" in learning, finding that they are complex, intralingual rather than interlingual, and semantically motivated. The French plural form "des" should be treated not as a partitive but as the plural of "un, une." (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

It is hoped that from learners' faulty use of the foreign language, clues may be found for foreign language teaching. Some "factors" are examined: negative transfer, learning and communication strategies, over-generalization. Also discussed are ways of dealing with various errors. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The author's response to James Flege's critique (in this issue of "Language Learning") regarding earlier research on second-language timing patterns is presented. (LMO)

Discusses both the pedagogical arguments and the psycholinguistic rationale for small-group work in the second language classroom. Claims that the negotiation work possible in group actiity makes it an attractive alternative to the teacher-led discussion. Reviews research findings on interlanguage which generally support the claims made for group…

Analyses of the syntactic development of profoundly deaf children have revealed nonstandard stages in the evolution of verb phrases. A reading task required subjects (ages 12-13) to recognize the time-reference of simple sentences. Results supported the prediction that stage of development in verb-phrase production influenced perception.…

Reports on research into the validity of the theory of interlanguage, based on evidence of interference of the native language in Dutch students of French. (AM)

Used an approach to the study of interlanguage that challenges prevailing models of second language acquisition (SLA) that assume that negotiation of meaning is the only causal variable in SLA. Examines two notions of language play as they have been presented in applied linguistics literature: ludic language play and language play as rehearsal in…

Addresses the difficulties second language learners have using articles properly by examining the metalinguistic knowledge of the English article system that learners employ when selecting articles in a given situation. Attempts to better understand the process of "making sense" of the English article system by learners who are at different stages…

Discusses two hypotheses on the distribution of emergent tense-aspect morphology in second language acquisition: aspect hypothesis and discourse hypothesis. Analyzes narrative structure and lexical aspectual class in a single corpus comprising narratives produced by adult learners of English as a Second Language at various proficiency levels.…

Examines the work of two scholars who have made the greatest contributions to the variabilist perspective on second-language acquisition, and discusses the acquisition models that each of these scholars has proposed. (50 references) (Author/VWL)