Focuses on Eckman's (1996) discussion of the nativism controversy. This article supplements Eckman's discussion and argues in favor of a generative approach to second language acquisition theory, specifically for an autonomous and modular grammatical theory. (five references) (CK)

Discusses "emergenitism," a view of cognition stressing interaction between organism and environment and denying existence of predetermined, domain-specific faculties or capacities. It is an alternative to special nativist theories of the mind, such as theories of universal grammar. rejects arguments raised against "special nativism" and looks at…

In a recent paper (Jordan, Geoff Jordan takes issue with some of my claims about second language acquisition (SLA) theory. Specifically, he queries the necessity of a property theory, and he finds my discussion of explanation unsatisfactory. In this brief reply, I try to answer his criticisms. In a brief but interesting paper, Geoff Jordan (2004:…

In response to Ellis (2002), which resurrects the notion that language acquisition consists of frequency-based abstraction of regularities from input, this article suggests Ellis ignores fundamental and well-known problems, including the poverty of the stimulus, cases of instantaneous acquisition, and evidence for innate knowledge. (Author/VWL)

John Schumann and colleagues have argued for a neurobiological perspective on language acquisition that denies a role for a specifically linguistic mental module of the sort proposed by, for example, N. Chomsky (1986). This report challenges this perspective by offering evidence that such a mental module must be involved in the acquisition of…

Critically reviews Bonnie Schwartz' 1986 article "The Epistemological Status of Second Language Acquisition," and focuses on the applicability of the modularity thesis of Chomsky and Fodor to second language learning (L2A); and on the relationship of such a theory to Krashen's model of L2A. (LMO)

Discusses problems involved in scientific explanation in general and their relevance to theories of second-language acquisition (SLA) in particular. The property theory/transition theory distinction and the deductive-nomological model are examined. The use of Lipton's (1991) "best explanation" concept in evaluating SLA theoretical frameworks is…

Examines the work of two scholars who have made the greatest contributions to the variabilist perspective on second-language acquisition, and discusses the acquisition models that each of these scholars has proposed. (50 references) (Author/VWL)

In 1993, "Applied Linguistics" published an issue on theory construction in second-language acquisition, including papers by Beretta and Crookes, Gregg, and Long. The article argues that these papers and the rationalist understanding of scientific research exemplified in them, have become the object of misguided critiques, including Block (1996).…