This paper presents an experimental study of the rarely explored question of how input through instruction interacts with L2 acquisition at the level of modular linguistic knowledge. The investigation focuses on L2 knowledge of the English polarity item "any," whose properties are only partially covered by typical language-teaching…

This study assessed knowledge of numerically quantified English sentences in two learner populations--second language (L2) learners and deaf learners--whose acquisition of English occurs under conditions of restricted access to the target language input. Under the experimental test conditions, interlanguage parallels were predicted to arise from…

Considers the role of instruction, second language (L2) input, first language (L1) transfer, and universal grammar in development of L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. Specifically investigates the acquisition of the Spanish morpheme "se" by English-speaking adult learners. (Author/VWL)

Stable nonnative varieties of English acquired and used in the absence of native English input can diverge systematically from native varieties over time (Cheshire, 1991; Kachru, 1983; Platt, Weber, & Ho, 1984). Focusing on Indian English article use, this study asks the following question: If divergence is indeed occurring, do new features…

Addresses a number of issues that have to do with nature of mental representation of an interlanguage grammar. Major focus is on necessity of positing some sort of hierarchical constituent structure to account for what second-language learners do in their phonology. The purpose is to show the utility of invoking a theory of abstract phonological…