In this short article I try to present a taxonomy of sources of difficulty, in particular complexity. I emphasize how these factors interact with each other and with individual differences and treatments, before illustrating some of these interactions and the methodological issues involved in studying them with examples from the empirical studies…

Carol Stoel-Gammon has made a real contribution in bringing together two fields that are not generally jointly addressed. Like Stoel-Gammon, we have long focused on individual differences in phonological development (e.g. Vihman, Ferguson & Elbert, 1986; Vihman, Boysson-Bardies, Durand & Sundberg, 1994; Keren-Portnoy, Majorano & Vihman, 2008). And…

Sample accepted findings on learners, environments, and interlanguages are proposed along with some implications for second-language acquisition theories. (79 references) (JL)

Examines the possible and specific relationships between first language (L1) acquisition and second language (L2) acquisition to show that a number of assumptions warrant closer inspection. Explores problems in distinguishing L1 from L2 acquisition from three different perspectives: individual language learner histories, the data, and the…

Suggests that Goad & Ingram's (1987) argument in favor of a cognitive model of phonological development failed to recognize the uniqueness of each individual's neural and vocal structures, ignored documented variability in the phonetic patterns of prelexical infants, and inexplicably assumed that inter-child variability implied the operation of…

This article responds to MacIntyre's (1995) critique of the Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), which posits that language aptitude is the primary source of individual differences in foreign language (FL) achievement. It defends the LCDH and suggests that difficulties exist with theories that attribute affective and social context…

This article responds to Sparks and Ganschow's (1995) defense of their Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), arguing that the LCDH ignores the context in which language learning occurs. It asserts that LCDH is so focused on the learning of the sound system of language that it ignores affective variables. (22 references) (MDM)

A variable rule of /s/ deletion that operates in many varieties of Spanish is examined. A descriptive apparatus is posited that may be helpful in systematizing quantitative data from studies of phonological variability. Empirical data from the speech of informants show that ordering relationships among constraints on variable phonological rules…

Rod Ellis discusses contribution, past, present, and future, of second-language acquisition (SLA) studies to English language teaching. Considers two primary issues: conditions that facilitate and promote SLA in classroom; and how teachers can create those conditions. Role of grammar in English classroom is discussed, recent research is described,…