This study examines the transfer of first language (L1) and second language (L2) pragmatic expression--realized in the request speech act--in oral and written modalities by Spanish-speaking third language (L3) Portuguese learners (bilingual Spanish heritage speakers, native English speakers who are proficient in L2 Spanish, and native Spanish…

The question of the sequencing of skills is an important issue in language policy and curriculum design in general, and even more so in the case of a diglossic language such as Arabic. This paper tries to investigate the implications of diglossia on the order of linguistic skills acquisition in Arabic among Hebrew speakers in Israel. (JL)

In this study of German as a foreign language, formal classroom experience is compared with informal use of German outside the classroom focusing on three syntactic features: main clause word order (subject-verb-object, or SVO), topicalization (subject-verb inversion), and subordinate word order (subject-object-verb, or SOV). T tests and…

Discusses the different varieties of Spanish, the decision of which variety to teach to native speakers, and the concept of a "standard" usage. Basing the decision on sociolinguistic research, this article proposes a spoken and written variety of Spanish to be employed in teaching native speakers in the United States. (Author/JL)