We study the learnability problem concerning the dative alternations in English (Baker, 1979; Pinker, 1989). We consider how first language learners productively apply the double-object and to-dative constructions ("give the book to library"/"give the library the book"), while excluding negative exceptions ("donate the…

In an attempt to explain first language attrition in emigrant populations, this paper investigates the explanatory power of a framework that has--until now--received little attention: the regression hypothesis (Jakobson, 1941). This hypothesis predicts that the order of attrition is the reverse of the order of acquisition. The regression…

That "will" and "shall" are modal, not temporal, verbs is shown by their syntactic similarity to the modals and by the fact that they follow the same transformational rules as the modals. This example demonstrates the usefulness of transformational grammar in explaining grammatical relationships to students. (Text is in…

The relevance, the application, and the importance of linguistics to teaching English as a foreign language is discussed. The author's assumption is that linguistics is "irrelevant to the aims, and inapplicable to the tasks of such teaching," and agrees with linguists such as Rosenbaum that the goal of linguistic science is "to determine…

"Deletion is posited as a universal process in language, and "identity and "indefiniteness are suggested as universal conditions under which deletion takes place. Usefulness of exploiting language similarities in language teaching is stressed. This paper was presented at the TESOL Convention, Chicago, March 1969. (FWB)

This bibliography is intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students who desire a convenient guide to linguistic scholarship in English, education, linguistics, and related areas. The listing is selective, but the compiler has tried to provide ample coverage of the major fields and topics, with emphasis on works published in the…

Paper presented at the TESOL convention, March 1970. (DS)

The following aspects of syntax in Indian English are examined: complex sentence formation, interrogative transformation, verb forms, and complementation. It is argued that a set of syntactic rules exists in all non-native second language varieties of English that will generate the non-stylistic deviant patterns discussed. (KM)

A somewhat modified version of a paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, May 1969. (FWB)

In this essay, the relationship of American linguistic theory to teaching English as a second language (ESL) is traced over the past few decades. The limitations of the structuralist paradigm in a language learning situation are discussed. The use of pattern drills based on the structuralist surface feature attention to word placement. The…