Language proficiency is multi-componential in nature and, according to many SLA researchers and L2 practitioners, is best captured by the concepts of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Two of the three studies reported in this paper adopted the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2003) as the means to address the question of whether increasing…

This paper attempts a brief account of recent trends in interlanguage studies. Interlanguage may be defined as a separate linguistic system which results from a learner's attempted production of a target language norm. According to the recreation hypothesis, this is a dynamic system of increasing complexity, whereas, according to the restructuring…

Presents arguments for the view that pidginization can be a model of early second language acquisition, decreolization can be a model for later second language acquisition, and creolization is inappropriate for any aspect of this process. (Author/AM)

An approach to teaching grammar concepts treats conceptualization as a process of sensitization, consisting of three stages: motivating the student to learn the concept, presenting the operating concept and the grammatical category in question, and consolidating and enriching the concept in the student's mind. (MSE)

Attempts to demonstrate the strategies used by the second language learner in deciphering unfamiliar linguistic material. (AM)

Questions the value of the theory of interlanguage for language learning research. (AM)

Examines Krashen's Monitor hypothesis (claiming that no interface exists between acquisition and learning) and finds it inadequate due to the over-restrictive conditions necessary for its use. Alternative acquisition theories and ways in which to monitor under less restrictive conditions are also examined, and a communicative trigger is proposed…

It has been claimed that error analysis (EA) has two broad aims and two levels of application: pedagogical (relevant to syllabus design and second language teaching) and psycholinguistic (relevant to language learning studies). At the moment, EA's pedagogical claims are stronger than its psycholinguistic ones. In its early days, EA defined its…

This paper discusses the meaning of the term "lexical simplification" in the context of second language acquisition. It is suggested that simplification be viewed as a universal feature of language use which may be manifested in a number of linguistic contexts, including the creation of a learner's interlanguage. It is further suggested…

A discussion of the ways that consciousness may be involved in learning the principles of second-language discourse and pragmatics draws on current theories of the role of consciousness in human learning in general, with suggestions for extension to the learning of pragmatics. First, research on the degree of consciousness in pragmatic learning…

Seven postulated stages of acquisition of Spanish as a second language are examined within the context of Processability Theory, whose predictive paradigm is applicable to interlanguage development in any second language (L2). The theory argues that the sequence in which the target language unfolds in the learner is determined by the sequence in…

A cybernetic model of factors involved in the fossilization of grammatical and lexical forms in learner grammars is offered. A distinction is made between affective and cognitive dimensions of a multidimensional channel of human communication; and the effect of expected and unexpected feedback on these two dimensions is discussed. (Author/POP)

Answers to theoretical questions about the place of input in a formal second language acquisition model are dependent on a distinction between two kinds of learner hypotheses. Type-N hypotheses require "negative evidence" for testing, while Type-P hypotheses are tested on the basis of "positive data" alone. (Author/CB)

Investigates whether the Wave Model of linguistic change can furnish a valid idealization for the patterning of variation in interlanguage systems and a scale for determining degree of naturalness. Data from 162 French-speaking adult learners were used to analyze the variability in the evolution of the English possessive determiners…

It has been argued that extended exposure to naturalistic input provides L2 learners with more of an opportunity to converge of target morphosyntactic competence as compared to classroom-only environments, given that the former provide more positive evidence of less salient linguistic properties than the latter (e.g., Isabelli 2004). Implicitly,…