Reviews research in second language acquisition that has examined the influence of syllable structure universals on the structuring of interlanguage phonology. (Author/VWL)

This article surveys the development of second language (L2) phonology over the last 40-50 years. Research in this area has grown from analyzing learners' errors in terms of Contrastive Analysis to proposals explaining L2 sound patterns in terms of constraints on interlanguage grammar. Although native language transfer has endured as one source of…

Addresses a number of issues that have to do with nature of mental representation of an interlanguage grammar. Major focus is on necessity of positing some sort of hierarchical constituent structure to account for what second-language learners do in their phonology. The purpose is to show the utility of invoking a theory of abstract phonological…

Studies native speakers of Korean to determine the role of universals in their acquisition of English obstruent voicing contrasts. Data were collected from a passage and a word list containing voiced and voiceless obstruents in initial, medial, and final word positions. Results reflected principles of markedness, universals of L1 acquisition, and…