Analyzed 104 language samples obtained from 42 different normal language learning children at 15, 19, and 35 months of age for the proportional use of 11 grammatical morphemes. Wide variability was found among the samples in the proportional use of each morpheme. (49 references) (JL)

According to the theory of Universal Grammar, the primary linguistic data guides children through an innately specified space of hypotheses. On this view, similarities between child-English and adult-German are as unsurprising as similarities between cousins who have never met. By contrast, experience-based approaches to language acquisition…

This paper reports an experiment that addresses whether manipulating foreknowledge of output tasks leads to differences in reading behaviour, text comprehension and noticing of language form. Three tasks are used: reading for memorization, reading for retelling and reading for visualization. Reading for memorization and reading for retelling are…

The study investigates the relationship between input, UG (Universal Grammar) parameter values, and the native language in the acquisition of a purely semantic property that is superficially unrelated to its syntactic trigger, The Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi, 1991; 1994; 1996; 2001; 2005). On the one hand, English and Italian bare…

Leow (2001a) employed concurrent data elicitation procedures (think aloud protocols) to investigate the benefits of textual enhancement, premised on the roles of attention and awareness (noticing), in second/foreign language (L2) learning. The present study follows this methodological approach to further investigate these benefits in addition to…

The study set out to investigate how textual enhancement (TE) as a form of input enhancement and increasing the comprehensibility of input via simplified input (SI) might impact adult L2 French learners' acquisition of the past participle agreement in relative clauses and their comprehension of three texts in which the target forms were embedded.…

Based upon the view that parents, home visitors, and teachers in early childhood settings need tools for empowering young children to develop language, this paper examines what adults need to know to guide young children's language development and presents 20 suggestions for enhancing language growth. The paper maintains that adults need to know…

This article proposes a model for sensitizing students to the richness of literary texts based on Lee and VanPatten's (1995) structured input/output approach to teaching foreign languages (FL). It begins by discussing the difficulties and challenges of intermediate-level FL courses, noting that the concept of "bridge courses" may be faulty because…

Argues for the commencement of foreign-language instruction at the elementary school level or even at the kindergarten level. However, such instruction must consider the developmental stages of children of this age. Implications for early foreign language instruction are drawn from the similarities and differences between first- and…

Shows how language processing is intimately tuned to input frequency. Examples are given of frequency effects in the processing of phonology, phonotactics, reading, spelling, lexis, morphosyntax, formulaic language, language comprehension, grammaticality, sentence production, and syntax. (Author/VWL)

Considers the proposed developmental sequence of formula>low-scope>pattern>construction in the emergence of future expression in a longitudinal study of adult learners of English as a Second Language. Findings suggest that the use of formulaic expressions may be subject to individual variation and that learners may use formulaic…

This partial replication of an earlier study that found second language (L2) learners of Spanish have trouble simultaneously attending to meaning and form of aural input addresses the effect of modality on attention to meaning and form by including a written mode and using English as a Second Language. Revealed listening was more difficult than…

Replicates R. P. Leow's 1993 study on the effects of simplification, type of linguistic item, and second/foreign language experience on learners' intake of linguistic items contained in written output. Results on the type of linguistic item underscore the need for research to consider seriously the role of modality while addressing cognitive…

This study focused on the input-to-intake phenomenon: Can foreign language/second language (L2) learner-readers process grammatical information presented via written input as intake? Multiple tasks were designed to assess the processing of input into intake by first- and second-year students of Spanish. (JL)

An aphasic patient is described as one whose poor repetition of sentences and of lists of words contrasts with his or her surprisingly good performance on immediate problem recognition tasks. This result is interpreted as suggesting a distinction between phonological input and output buffers. (41 references) (Author/LB)