Research on second language (L2) acquisition in the generative tradition (GenSLA) addresses the nature of interlanguage competence, examining the roles of Universal Grammar, the mother tongue and the input in shaping the acquisition, representation and use of second languages. This field is sometimes dismissed by applied linguists as irrelevant…

Interlanguage has been the main development of field research on second language acquisition (SLA). According to Richard et al (1996) Interlanguage is one of the kinds of language that can be produced by second language learners in the process of acquiring or learning a new language. The influence of the universal grammar of the first language in…

This article examines the Multiple Grammars (MG) theory proposed by Luiz Amaral and Tom Roeper in the present issue and presents a critique of the research that went into the theory. Topics discussed include the allegation that the bilinguals and second language learners in the original article are primarily students in an academic setting, Amaral…

In an attempt to understand and explain first language (L1) acquisition and second language (L2) acquisition scholars have put forward many theories. These theories can aid language teachers to understand language learning and to assist their students in their language learning process. The current paper will first look at the similarities between…

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

This experimental study on English, Spanish, and Turkish as second languages investigates the interaction of universal principles and first language knowledge in interlanguage grammars by focusing on verbs that participate in the causative/inchoative alternation. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on how Chinese writers of academic texts in English have a tendency to place topic-fronting devices and logical connectors in sentence-initial position when introducing new information. A corpus of academic writing by Chinese subjects was tagged o detect occurrences of the above. (Author/VWL)

Revised texts of five papers from a conference on Dutch applied linguistics are presented. "Learning a Foreign Language in a Natural Acquisition Context Without Instruction" (Wolfgang Klein) advocates observing and analyzing language learning in progress in natural language learning contexts and presents data from a European project on…

This paper focuses on the mechanism by which the successful learner acquires a second language. The author postulates a core language, the common core of the speaker's native and target languages, and states that the second language becomes an extension of this common core. Whatever language-specific features are added while acquiring the second…