Discusses the theories of contrastive analysis and error analysis in second language learning with regard to the idea that a language closely related to one's own native language is easier to learn that a remotely related one. (EKN)

Compares phonetic implementation of the stop-voicing contrast produced in Arabic by Saudi Arabians and by both Americans and Saudis in English. Saudis used temporal aspects of voicing in Arabic while speaking English. This caused few communication problems, with the exception of the phoneme (p), which has no Arabic counterpart. (Author/PJM)

Analyses the meaning of the English word "lift" as used by French Canadians and shows that there is no universally acceptable French equivalent for this anglicism. Recommends that translators do not rely exclusively on one-to-one lexical equivalences but resort to contextual periphrastic devices when necessary. (MES)

Minor grammatical errors made by German students in translating from English to German led to an investigation of the means available in the two languages for effecting text-coherence. The examples cited indicate that English has fewer possibilities than German for showing sentence perspective through surface-syntactical markers. (IFS/WGA)

Outlines the theoretical assumptions and pedagogical implications of error analysis and attempts to show the relevance of error analysis to language teaching practice. (CFM)

Addresses the relationship between phonology and morphology, using the vowel alternations of Standard German Umlaut and Ablaut as relevant examples. The article analyzes Umlaut as a completely unified process of vowel fronting, whereas it argues that Ablaut is synchronically a totally unpredictable vowel change found in the paradigms of strong…

Suggests that there are universal constraints that explain the so-called "Definiteness Effect," i.e., the fact that certain constructions do not allow for definite arguments in certain positions. The article founds its proposal on the analysis of data from Hungarian and English. (15 references) (Author/CK)

Tests request strategies used by speakers of Japanese and British English in two culturally neutral situations likely to trigger a request. Concludes that the degree of imposition goes on a par with the number of politeness strategies but that there are differences in the types of strategies used: the British use conventional forms and supportive…

Discusses the intricacies of text analysis as approached by computer-assisted corpus linguistics, focusing on meaning relations in the text. The article points out that it is possible to distinguish several different approaches, according to whether the focus is on intralingual or interlingual parallel texts. (12 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the acquisition of foreign languages closely related to the learner's native language. The article argues that the transfer of elements from the native language plays a crucial role in the learning process. Results indicate that the native language hinders the learning process and that the lack of contrast blurs the linguistic structures…

Notes that the primary use of sequence monitoring has been to determine which linguistic units are involved in word recognition and how these units might differ across languages. The task involves presenting subjects with targets either congruent or incongruent with a linguistic unit in the target-bearing item. The article focuses on the…

Explores the relationship between philology and linguistics and the meanings associated with the two terms at different periods in the development of language study as a science. Chronicles the emergence of different perspectives since the early nineteenth century, particularly in Britain and Europe, and argues that the debate has not been…

Discusses dialectal differences in the aggregate. Employs a dialectometric technique that provides an additive measure of pronunciation difference: The (aggregate) pronunciation difference. Sampled Dutch towns and villages, where the variation ranges between 56% and 81%, lending credence to the dialect continuum view. (Author/VWL)

Crosslinguistic influence in second language acquisition is examined from a processing perspective. Applying Processibility Theory as the theoretical framework, claims that second language (L2) learners can only produce forms they are able to process. (Author/VWL)

Comparison of native and foreign language structures can contribute not only to second-language learning but also to second-language teaching. However, it is important to realize that the most important levels of description (phonetics, phonology, syntax, lexicon, semantics, and pragmatics) can only be really useful if their interdependence is…