The same semantic strategies for requesting are available in Spanish and English. Bilingual children use more polite strategies in speaking Spanish and more neutral ones in speaking English. (PMJ)

Vygotskian psycholinguistics is not only compatible with current second-language acquisition (SLA) theory but also serves as productive example within which to conduct research and theory building. Three sections of the paper support the following claims: an overview of Vygotskian concepts, a summary of selected Vygotsky-based SLA research, and a…

Responds to a previous article on emergentism, connectionism, and language learning. Suggests that connectionist models of emergent language knowledge will continue to be important in the years to come. (Author/JL)

The idea that language shapes the way we think, often associated with Benjamin Whorf, has long been decried as not only wrong but also fundamentally wrong-headed. Yet, experimental evidence has reopened debate about the extent to which language influences nonlinguistic cognition, particularly in the domain of time. In this article, I will first…

Reports on an investigation in which the acquisition sequences of eleven English functors were compared for native Chinese- and Spanish-speaking children learning English. Provides strong support for the existence of universal child language learning strategies. (PP)

Demonstrates the operation of the universal principles of lexical simplification, through an examination of its use in translation; second language learning and teaching, and simplified reading texts. (Author/AM)

Examines the changes in how researchers perceive the relationship between theories of language and theories of language acquisition. It is determined that a theory of grammar is a necessary component in native language acquisition and may also be required for second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

Describes a study which tested the proposal that adults learning second languages transfer errors from their first language (L1) to their second language (L2) when the L1 has activated a parameter of Universal Grammar which is not operative in the L2. The subjects were native Spanish speakers learning English. (SED)

Presents a rationale for undertaking the study of language. Views this study as a psychological investigation into how the self forms an identity of itself through its language, rather than how it is formed by its language. Thus, the structure of language is seen as a representational system, allowing a multiplicity of meanings. (SL)

Describes a study of "analogy" and "interference" errors in the syntax of second language learners. (Author/RM)

The ways that children and adults use their limited cognitive processes in comprehending the complex input of a second language are discussed, and an information-processing approach to second-language learning is proposed and supported in a number of areas of second language research. Implications for research and teaching are examined. (MSE)

Studies employing or investigating the metalinguistic judgments of native and nonnative speakers are reviewed. Their results and methodologies are compared to stimulate reliable and informative applications of such judgments in future research. Metalinguistic judgments are found useful in language acquisition studies, given appropriate controls…

Four positions concerning foreign and second language learning ability in adults are summarized with attention to the "critical period" hypothesis. An argument is made for a shift from macro-correlational studies to controlled micro language learning research free of extralinguistic variables. (PMJ)

Describes a research project carried out in Sweden to study the acquisition of Swedish syntax of negation by adult second language learners. (CFM)