Evaluates the input-processing, deficit/single system and the grammar-specific deficit/dual system models to account for past tense formation in impaired and normal language development. Investigated regular and irregular past tense formation of 60 real and novel regular and irregular verbs in grammatical specifically language impaired (G)-SLI…

This article reviews the nature and function of recasts, a well-documented way of responding to young children. The paper challenges the definition of recast and argues that it is too broad a category to be useful, either for theories of language development or for practice. In particular, various forms of recast have featured in intervention…

In this paper, we show that both token and type-based effects in lexical processing can result from a single, token-based, system, and therefore, do not necessarily reflect different levels of processing. We report three Simple Recurrent Networks modeling Dutch past-tense formation. These networks show token-based frequency effects and type-based…

This paper examines the current state of consciousness in the language teaching field, as it changes from a Soviet era of restricted resources to a potpourri of English language input from every corner of the planet. Language teaching in the Soviet system promoted a prescriptive "correct/incorrect" dichotomy; it privileged British over…

The study of language development in second language acquisition naturally leads to information about linguistic processes of second language acquisition, but it also sheds light on learners' individual differences. This article examines the acquisition of the future in L2 English and explores how learners in a longitudinal study respond to input,…

Questions concerning the role of input in the growth of syntactic skills have generated substantial debate within psychology and linguistics. The authors address these questions by investigating the effects of experimentally manipulated input on children's skill with the passive voice. The study involved 72 four-year-olds who listened to stories…

Four recent volumes on acquisition of French by different populations cover a range of areas, particularly the development of verbal tense/agreement and nominal gender/concord in first language (L1) acquirers, as opposed to second language (L2) learners; the generalizability of grammatical deficits (e.g. difficulty acquiring parametrized features…

This study investigates international students' perceptions of the issues they face using English as a second language while attending American higher education institutions. In order to fully understand those challenges involved in learning English as a Second Language, it is necessary to know the extent to which international students have…

In this article we report on an 8-year process that included three successive iterations of the following cycle: (a) development of instructional technology, (b) formative evaluation, and (c) modification of the technology. From the first formative evaluation to the last, our students told us that they found heavily contextualized language…

Twenty-four caregivers and their 2- to 4-year-old children took part in a storybook reading task in which caregivers taught children novel labels for familiar objects. Findings indicate parental speech could provide a rich source of information to children in learning how different lexical categories are expressed in their native language.…

Investigated whether crosslinguistic interference occurs in the domain of subject realization in Spanish in a bilingual (Spanish-English) acquisition context. Also explored whether the source of the interference is due to child-internal crosslanguage contact between English and Spanish or due to the nature of the language input in a bilingual…

In response to Ellis (2002), which resurrects the notion that language acquisition consists of frequency-based abstraction of regularities from input, this article suggests Ellis ignores fundamental and well-known problems, including the poverty of the stimulus, cases of instantaneous acquisition, and evidence for innate knowledge. (Author/VWL)

Responds to Ellis (2002), which focuses on frequency in language processing, language use, and language acquisition. Contextualizes the frequency factor in terms of the evolution of second language acquisition (SLA) research. Suggests that although relevant and important, the frequency factor requires greater definition and qualification.…

Investigated the relationship between memory for input and inductive learning of morphological rules relating to functional categories in a semiartificial form of Italian. A verbatim memory task was used as both the vehicle for presenting sentences and as a continuous measure of memory performance. (Author/VWL)

Reviews processing (PI) instruction, outlines a model of input processing, describes the nature of PI, and discusses research on it to date. (Author/VWL)