Analysis of English articles use patterns found the definite article (DA) used far less than in other European languages. Generic DA use is rare in English, generally only used where the head noun has already been referred to or is contextually unique. Otherwise, the indefinite article, a possessive, or plural of the noun without an article must…

Explores the possibility of establishing predictability models for interference as well as ascertaining the degree of competence adult second language learners could achieve before being able to eliminate interference in production of the target language. (CB)

A study found that, when temporal characteristics of stops in a Spanish utterance by a native English-speaker were computer-manipulated, native Spanish-speakers' perceptions of the foreignness of the speech were affected. Results imply that Spanish language instruction should include instruction to shorten stops to more Spanish-like values,…

Explains the differences between constituency and dependency theories for structural linguistics. Reasons are provided for why the former has been indirectly responsible for the neglect of lexical acquisition in language acquisition research and for proposing a notation based on dependency theory for describing learners' segmentation of initially…

Discusses the measurability of linguistic and communicative competence in light of the performance/competence dichotomy, and proposes a method for measuring loss of communicative competence using spontaneous speech data. (11 references) (Author/CK)