Addresses the issue of how we know what learners know based on evidence from second language (L2) learners' spontaneous speech samples gathered longitudinally. Examines some of the problems involved in the analysis of spontaneous speech, with focus on second language studies within the generative framework. Considers the effects of the comparative…

This article examines the phenomenon of fossilization in second language (SL) learning and instruction, discussing this process as a form of simplification. Fossilization occurs when particular linguistic forms become permanently established in the interlanguage of SL learners in a form that is deviant from the target language norm and that…

Focuses on the interlanguage of a Thai student learning Norwegian. Suggests that the learner's errors are related to transfer from the first language, but that the error finds justification in the textbook input the student has received. Researchers attempted to "teach out" the error without much success. (Author/VWL)

Six papers on interlanguage are presented. The first, "Language Transfer," experimentally tests Robert Lado's contrastive analysis principles on the transfer of language skills to second language acquisition. The second paper, called "Interlanguage," builds on this work in discussing the structured nature of interlanguage and…