This article reports on the first results of a large-scale research programme that aims to define and circumscribe the construct of phraseological complexity and to theoretically and empirically demonstrate its relevance for second language theory. Within this broad agenda, the study has two main objectives. First, it investigates to what extent…

In recent second language (L2) research it has been proposed that unlike linguistic phenomena pertaining to internal interfaces, those at external interfaces pose greater difficulty to adult L2 learners and may not be fully acquired. It has further been pointed out that such problematic acquisition at the interface level should not be attributed…

Discusses the current approaches to interlanguage syntax, focusing on the goal of finding consistency and pattern in syntactic variation. Some themes contributing to descriptive approaches include: the transition from morphosyntax acquisition studies to those of more complex syntax, the emergence of syntax from discourse, explicitness, and the…

Discusses the "null prep phenomenon" reported in studies of the second language (L2) development of extraction constructions. Reviews a proposal that null prep grammars represent a generalized procedure in L2 development, that of early reliance on A-bar binding construals when the target grammar requires wh-movement. Offers an…

Investigates how semantic properties of functional categories are acquired by second language (L2) learners in an instructional setting. Findings suggest that L2 learners are able to acquire interpretable formal features not transferable from their native language. (Author/VWL)

Considers the interplay between source and target language in relation to two points made by Klein and Perdue: (1) the argument that the analysis of the target language should not be used as the model for analyzing interlanguage data; and (2) the theoretical claim that under the technical assumptions of minimalism, the Basic Variety is a "perfect"…

A longitudinal study of a Japanese-speaking learner of English as a second language (ESL) analyzed the learner's article system and found that it was not target-like but also not totally random. (Author/CB)

Lexical semantics and contrastive lexical semantics can serve as a background discipline to describe and, to some extent, to explain errors in interlanguage. Two developments in lexical semantics that are relevant in this area are the description of sense-relationships and componential analysis. Contrastive lexical semantics involves mapping the…

Investigates the role of topic-comment structure and the frequency of topic-prominence in the oral interlanguage of Chinese- Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-, Farsi-, and Spanish-speaking adult students of English as a second language. Results indicate that second language learning is generally characterized by an early topic-comment stage, independent…

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…

The validity of 2 implicational universals regarding constituent order in questions is tested in the English speech of 14 native speakers of Japanese, Turkish, and Korean. The interlanguage evidence is found to be generally supportive of the 2 universals. (31 references). (Author/VWL)

Re-examines the case of the "pseudo-passive," an interlanguage structure considered typical of first-language Chinese learners of second language English. Earlier approaches to the analysis of the structure--typological and syntactic--are reviewed and an alternative approach--discourse-syntactic--is proposed to bridge a methodological…

A study of textual cohesion in the oral discourse of learners of English as a second language had as subjects 19 Asians from 4 language backgrounds, who were living and, in most cases, studying English in the United States. Analysis of taped conversations focused on the use of conjunctive adjuncts of three kinds: (1) simple adverbs (e.g., and,…

This issue of the journal includes these papers on contrastive linguistics: "Contrastive Patholinguistics: The Acquisition of English Grammatical Morphemes by German Dyslexics in a Foreign-Language Teaching Context" (Udo O. H. Jung); "Contrastive Pragmatics" (Marie-Louise Liebe-Harkort); "On Questions in English and Swedish" (Kay Wikberg); "On…

A study is described which (1) focuses on the syllable structure of the interlanguage in an attempt to determine how it differs from the syllable structure of the target language, and which (2) begins to identify some of the processes which may shape that interlanguage syllable structure. (Author)