Reviews research on the use of the "T-Unit" as a measure of language ability, demonstrating that the measure has limited utility in the case of second language, since it bases itself solely on syntax and does not reward speakers for sophistication in such areas as vocabulary. (Author/CB)

A review of Hunt's research to find ways of measuring the growth of syntactic proficiency in American school children explores the possibilities of applying these measures to groups of British native and non-native speakers of English and developing them for use in teaching and testing. (Author/CB)

Explores the implications of the principles and parameters theory of Universal Grammar for language teaching. Classroom acquisition depends on the provision of appropriate syntactic evidence to trigger parameter setting, and certain aspects of vocabulary are also crucial. (33 references) (Author/VWL)