This article adopts the surface overlap and derivational complexity hypotheses to study crosslinguistic transfer in the adult second language (L2) acquisition of English genitive alternation (between the s-genitives and the of genitives) by intermediate and advanced Egyptian Arabic-speaking learners. While the "s"-genitive (e.g.…

This project investigates second language (L2) learners' processing of four types of Chinese relative clauses crossing extraction types and demonstrative-classifier (DCl) positions. Using a word order judgment task with a whole-sentence reading technique, the study also discusses how psycholinguistic theories bear explanatory power in L2 data. An…

The relationship between structural linguists and applied linguists is notoriously uncomfortable; each tends to view the others' focus and methods with suspicion. Despite this uneasy relationship many TESOL-focused master's programs are housed in Linguistics Departments. This article reflects on my experience in 1 such department and makes…

Constructionist approaches to language hypothesize that grammar can be learned from the input using domain-general mechanisms. This emphasis has engendered a great deal of research--exemplified in the present issue--that seeks to illuminate the ways in which input-related factors can both drive and constrain constructional acquisition. In this…

Grosjean and Gee's prosodic structure theory is applied to second-language listening comprehension. It is argued that second-language students whose native language is syllable-timed do not have a mechanism to deal with unstressed syllables and must create one. The absences of this mechanism helps explain difficulties in listening comprehension.…

Previous studies, including Duffield and Matsuo (2001; 2002; 2009), have demonstrated second language learners' overall sensitivity to a parallelism constraint governing English VP-ellipsis constructions: like native speakers (NS), advanced Dutch, Spanish and Japanese learners of English reliably prefer ellipsis clauses with structurally parallel…

Discusses the effects of American structural linguistics on beginning-level foreign language teaching. In the framework of applied linguistics, generative transformational grammar is evaluated. Psychology of learning is discussed, as are current conceptions of communicative competence and speech-act theory and possible effects of theoretical…

Seeks to establish a criterion for selection of language content not based on language, but rather on the process of language acquisition. (DS)

Replies to Mellow's (1996) criticism of the authors' second language acquisition model. The article argues that this model is based on the psychological concept of exchange of linguistic information and that Mellow's evaluation of various types of transformational analysis is irrelevant. The article also addresses several points of detail in…

Asserts that the term "co-verb" can be replaced by the term "preposition." Linguistic arguments indicating that preposition is a valid category in Chinese grammar are discussed, and the historical development of the co-verb is described. (RM)

This article briefly examines structural and transformational theories and their associations with other theories, particularly learning psychology. The implications of each position for FL teaching are examined, and it is suggested that teachers enrich structurally based audiolingual techniques with experimental infusions from the…

Traces the history of linguistic theory as it has affected the field of second language instruction. (AM)

English-as-a-Second-Language data show number and person play a role in establishing cognitive continuity of textual occurrences. In such cases, number/person errors are global, affecting text comprehension. Global grammar proposed here can present language features that are to be learned in contexts that render those features cognitively and…