This paper presents an extension of the Multiple Grammars Theory (Roeper, 1999) to provide a formal mechanism that can serve as a generative-based alternative to current descriptive models of interlanguage. The theory extends historical work by Kroch and Taylor (1997), and has been taken into a computational direction by Yang (2003). The proposal…

A proposed model for an interim grammar between a first and second language, an autonomous rule-governed system based on the Extended Standard Theory, is presented and discussed, focusing on the motivations for choosing a generative model and the determination of structure for an interlanguage system, and using a comparison of the auxiliary system…

Research assumptions and procedures of two studies of interlanguage (IL) phonology are examined and criticized. In both studies, syllable structure is used as a primary variable, but opposing claims are made about "open" and "closed" IL syllable structure preference. It is argues that: (1) neither IL study considers sufficiently the phonetic…

A study examined pragmatic routine and indirection as regularly-used strategies for accomplishing linguistic action that, while conventional, can pose problems for non-native speakers. Two kinds of conventionalities are distinguished: conventionality of means (kinds of semantic structure that have acquired a standard illocutionary force, such as,…

Attempts to measure translation quality raise important questions about the nature of textual transfer, the relationship between source- and target-language texts, and translation functions. Examination of a typical advertising text, translated from English to German, shows the degree of freedom with which texts are manipulated in professional…

Just as learning a first language is sometimes compared to existence within the relatively sheltered world of the Garden of Eden, the process of learning a second language is viewed as analogous to survival after expulsion from the Garden into a relatively harsh world, in which the learner must come to a conscious understanding of form and meaning…

Previous investigations of the variable marking of past time by the L2 learner have given rise to a number of hypotheses which predict the patterns of acquisition and use of past time markers in interlanguage (IL). However, given the complicity between their predictions, it has been previously noted that hypotheses such as the aspect and discourse…

The first contacts between linguistics and second language acquisition date from the period of contrastive analysis of languages, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When contrastive analysis failed as an explanatory model, linguists lost interest in second language research and descriptive/contrastive studies declined, resulting in a changed…

A study examined the stages of acquisition of Spanish definite articles by two groups of English-speaking learners enrolled in their first semester of Spanish. The approach taken was to analyze writing samples produced by the groups at different times during the semester, to obtain the basis for a pseudo-longitudinal analysis of article usage. The…

The lexical approach to teaching Russian grammar is explained, an instructional sequence is outlined, and a classroom study testing the effectiveness of the approach is reported. The lexical approach draws on research on cognitive psychology, second language acquisition theory, and research on learner language. Its bases in research and its…

A study investigated patterns in phonological errors occurring in the speaker's second language in both formal and informal speaking situations. Subjects were three adult learners of English as a second language, including a native Spanish-speaker and two Asians. Their speech was recorded during diagnostic testing (formal speech) and in everyday…

The review of research presented here examines studies based on Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis of linguistic relativity, which states that cultural traditions encourage certain types of thinking and are reinforced by structural characteristics of particular languages. Studies were selected for inclusion if: (1) the subjects were learners and speakers…

This article presents a selective review of the work carried out recently in second language acquisition (SLA) research which makes use of oral learner corpora and computer technologies. In the first part, the reasons why the field of SLA needs corpora for addressing current theoretical issues are briefly reviewed. In the second part, recent…

Discussion of the role of pragmatics research in language teaching looks at the role such research should play in the language classroom, and the role of researcher, teacher, and teacher educator in making that connection. It is noted that pragmatics research has discovered a number of differences in the ways in which first- and second-language…

A study compared (1) data on rejections of advice by native and non-native speakers collected from natural conversation with (2) data collected from a discourse completion task (DCT). Subjects were students in an academic advising session (13 native speakers, 11 non-native speakers of English) who responded to a DCT and students (18 native…