This paper reports an investigation into the transitional dialect spoken by learners in the process of learning a second language. Theories concerning the psychology of second language learning which have been hypothesized by a small number of people in the field are discussed. These theories were first reported on from Scotland and England and have recently made their way into American linguistic circles. A project is described in which the conversations of five second language learners who were studying English as a second language (ESL) at Bronx Community College in the summer of 1975 were taped, transcribed and analyzed. The learners' uses of "don't" as a generalized negating device are outlined. The results of an analysis of these learners' use of auxiliaries, negatives and question formation, along with a comparative study of the results of other researchers after studying these same three linguistic subsystems, conclude the study. (Author/CLK)