Examines the interference of Cantonese on the levels of phonology, syntax and lexis in Mandarin Chinese. The article offers remedial suggestions, discusses the special needs of Cantonese students, and compares them to the needs of their English-speaking counterparts. (Author/KM)

Discusses problems and issues in naturalistic (non-school) acquisition of the phonology of a second language (L2). The data come from a longitudinal study of four German-speaking siblings learning English as a second language within an English-speaking community without classroom instruction. (KM)

Argues that many interventions for introducing Aboriginal children to literacy continue to be based on "language deficit" models. Examines whether there is indeed a mismatch between the nonstandard spoken language of some Aboriginal children and textbook language. (RAE)

Defines language transfer as a psycholinguistic procedure by which second language learners activate prior knowledge in developing or using their interlanguage. A functional differentiation of language transfer is proposed, according to its activation in learning, reception, and production. (Author/LMO)

Describes a study of those areas that experience suggests are major sources of error for native English-speakers studying German. Students' writing samples of different proficiency levels were analysed to establish (1) changes in error rate per student over the three semesters and (2) degree of negative transfer for each group. (SED)

Examines flaws in the literature of dialect interference, examines the seven correlates of Patrick Hartwell's print code hypothesis and finds them wanting or uninstructive, and sets forth suggestions for a more sophisticated study of this issue. (HOD)

Finds that motivation in the conversation course is fostered by careful selection of discussion material, narrow in scope and interesting to students rather than to teachers. Games, songs and experiments are desirable. Error correction is discussed, particularly of "Germanisms". It is suggested that sociolinguistics can contribute to motivation.…

This paper attempts to sum up, in non-technical terms, the essential differences between the acquisition of a first and a second language. It represents a conviction that a large number of the key concepts of TESOL can be drawn out of this type of comparison. The opening paper presented to the Pre-Convention Study Groups at the TESOL Convention,…

A study of English speakers' acquisition of relative clauses in Chinese, Japanese, Persian, German, and Portugese is reported. Various structures were tested to separate interlanguage features attributable to first language interference from those universal to second language acquisition. Application of an accessibility hierarchy theory and…

Examines arguments in favor of the notion of dialect interference in writing; offers counterevidence and explores an alternative explanation for apparent dialect interference in writing. Concludes that pedagogies for teaching writing skills to native speakers of English that assume dialect interference are theoretically wrong, pedagogically…

A cross-section method was used to study the developmental changes in elementary decoding and encoding processes of 163 Swedish-German bilingual students, whose length of residence in Sweden varied. It was demonstrated that decoding in two languages, expressed in terms of reaction time, develops faster than encoding. (SW)

Reports on a study in which readers from eight countries evaluated and annotated the same three Discussion sections written in English by Dutch biologists. Discusses the nonnative competence in English, mother tongue interference, and non-anglophone tense conventions for reporting past events. Readers' responses to the preponderance of present…

Suggests that the difficulties encountered by Westerners in learning Chinese are the result of native language interference, and interference caused by different customs and ways of thinking. A contrastive analysis of the different cultural aspects of Chinese and Western ways of thinking is presented. (VWL)

An analysis of Brazilian learners' errors in English word stress revealed a difficulty hierarchy of stress pattern rules and six stress prediction strategies: (1) cognate stress patterns; (2) predominant stress patterns of English; (3) initial vowels and consonants; (4) verbs with a tense vowel in the final syllable; (5) tertiary stress; and (6)…