Baggio presents the results of an event-related potential (ERP) study in which he examines the processing consequences of reading tense violations such as *"Afgelopen zondag lakt Vincent de kozijnen van zijn landhuis" (*"Last Sunday Vincent paints the window-frames of his country house"). The violation is arguably caused by a mismatch between the…

Clahsen and Felser (CF) have written a fairly comprehensive review of the current literature on on-line second language (L2) processing, presenting data from eye movement, self-paced reading, and event-related potential (ERP) studies with the aim of evidencing possible differences between native language (L1) and L2 processing. The thrust of the…

Clahsen and Felser (CF) have written a beautiful and important paper. I applaud their integrative empirical approach, and believe that their theoretical account is largely correct, if not in some of its specific claims, at least in its broader assumptions. CF directly compare their shallow structure hypothesis (SSH) with a model that my colleagues…

In their Keynote Article, Clahsen and Felser (CF) provide a detailed summary and comparison of grammatical processing in adult first language (L1) speakers, child L1 speakers, and second language (L2) speakers. CF conclude that child and adult L1 processing makes use of a continuous parsing mechanism, and that any differences found in processing…

Clahsen and Felser (CF) deserve praise for their superlative synthesis of literature relating to grammatical processing, as well as for their original contributions to this area of research. CF "explore the idea that there might be fundamental differences between child L1 and adult L2 processing." The researchers present evidence that adult second…

Critical linguistics, an area of study within linguistics that has developed since the 1970s, is discussed. Critical linguistics argues that different groups, societies, and ideologies have different understandings of reality because they classify and categorize with and through language in different ways. Therefore, meaning is not something…

Drawing on research on memory and on the effectiveness of pairing first-language dialogue with second-language script, and through analysis of the language processing occurring in the translation process, it is argued that translation may be an effective technique for second language instruction. (12 references) (MSE)

The phenomenon of language is discussed and suggestions are made for using its unique aspects to enhance classroom second language teaching and learning. Five main points are made about language: (1) it differs in kind, not simply in degree, from other species' communicative behaviors; (2) the wonder of human language is rivaled by only one other…

A review of research on the development of linguistic competence in second language learners looks at the role played by input to children in their development of linguistic competence, the nature of children's metalinguistic development, and the same processes in the naturalistic second language learning of adults, and then examines the role of a…

Analysis of learner language (LL), the foreign-language learner's utterances, can provide insight into the second-language acquisition process. Various models of first- and second-language acquisition are reviewed, characteristics of LL are discussed, and the role of instruction in second-language acquisition is considered. (IAH)

A contrastive analysis (CA) does not require commitment to directionality. Even asymmetrical interlingual correspondence can be handled by adirectional statements. If well executed, a CA is capable of handling three pairs of L2 learning phenomena: (1) going from language A to language B and vice versa; (2) productive and receptive command; and (3)…

In response to criticism of his study of input processing and processing instruction, a relatively new concept in second language teaching, the author discusses a number of issues raised, including concepts underlying input processing, methodological concerns, instructional materials used in the study, the concept "traditional instruction," use of…

This volume presents two papers synthesizing current research in second-language acquisition and reactions to these papers from the point of view of researchers in foreign language learning. The introduction by Rosario Gingras provides an overview of the research in second-language acquisition as it applies to foreign language teaching. A…