The current study investigates second language acquisition of Chinese object ellipsis to probe the development of features transferred from learners' native language without robust confirming or disconfirming evidence in the second language (L2) input. It is argued that Chinese allows object ellipsis licensed by a verb with a [VCase] feature but…

This study investigated whether second language (L2) learners of English could learn to produce stranded prepositions through structural priming. Structural priming is the tendency for speakers to repeat the structure of previously experienced sentences, without intention or conscious awareness of such behaviour, and is thought to be associated…

This study tracks the development of syntactic complexity in the writing of two beginning German as a second language learners with English as a first language over four semesters of collegiate language study by using developmental profiling techniques applied to an annotated learner corpus. The focus of the investigation is on individual…

In the tradition of work by Shaughnessy (1977) and Bartholomae (1980) applying concepts from second language acquisition research to developing writing, we explore the commonalities of L1 and L2 writers on the specific level of linguistic choices needed to order information within and across sentence boundaries. We propose that many of the kinds…

Argues that the null preposition phenomenon is a special case of reliance on the A-bar binding strategy, examining research on English-French interlanguage in college classrooms and suggesting that apparent categorical mismatches in A-bar chains may result from preposition incorporation. Second-language learners can appeal to the A-bar binding…

In this pilot study looking at interlanguage prosody, normal, and contrastively focused constructions in English were collected from four English-as-a-first-language speakers and four Japanese-as-a-first-language speakers. These productions were then played to six native English speakers to see how well they could identify the stress placement of…

Discusses interlanguage development in terms of three questions: (1) What requirements do learners impose on their own interlanguage output? (2) What linguistic knowledge concerning the fulfillment of their requirements do learners have stored in their memories? and (3) What linguistic forms do learners actually use in their interlanguage output,…

Assesses two apparently contradictory factors that may affect the acquisition of grammatical concord in a second language: (1) efficient deletion of redundant elements; and (2) facilitation or priming through repeated marking of grammatical information. The results of a study of written compositions by French and Japanese learners of English…

Investigates the use of discourse markers by advanced Turkish learners of English. The research discussed here aims to make an initial contribution to the study of how discourse markers are used by second-language learners, and to illustrate why such research should be valuable and necessary component of interlanguage pragmatics. (Author/VWL)

This study examined the availability and utility of negative feedback provided in the context of task-based adult conversations between native speakers and non-native speakers. Subjects were 10 dyads each consisting of a native English speaker and a college-level student of English as a Second Language. Analysis of conversational interactions…

This article summarizes a study (Odlin 1978) using variable rules analyses to describe the contraction patterns of six Mexican students of English as a second language. (CFM)

Studies the role played by native language transfer and task formality in the second-language acquisition of the Spanish voiced stop phonemes /b d g/ and their spirantized variants to identify specific problems affecting learners. Results indicate that native language transfer markedly inhibits acquisition of the voiced spirants. (21 references)…

Examination of the development of form/function relations of the prepositions "por" and "para" at different levels of proficiency in the interlanguage of study-abroad students in Granada, Spain, revealed "noncanonical" as well as "canonical" uses of these prepositions. The most common noncanonical uses were…

This study investigated the effects of systematic use of similarities between the native and second languages on the lexical competence of second language learners. Subjects were 209 first- and second-year English-speaking university students in French language classes. The students were pre- and post-tested for their visual recognition of…

Investigated pragmatic transfer in American learners of Japanese responding to compliments. The study used a closed role play to collect interlanguage data from the learners and normative data from Japanese and American native speakers. Findings substantiate a utility of pragmatic transfer research for improving instructional approach and course…