An examination of second-language acquisition research assumptions argues that second language data are important to understanding the nature of language. Exploration of theoretical underpinnings and empirical evidence relating to language universals indicates that research must consider how disparate facts of language are conceptually related…

Discusses whether markedness is at work in second-language acquisition in the same way it is in first-language acquisition when Korean speakers learn English as a second language and English speakers learn Korean as a second language. Results are discussed in terms of no access to universal grammar, partial access to universal grammar, and access…

Explores the concept of markedness in two different linguistically based approaches to universals in second language acquisition. While typologists define markedness implicationally, current theories of language learnability define markedness in terms of the Subset Principle. (21 references) (Author/CB)

Two questions are raised: Is it possible to characterize the notion human language in terms of absolute and typological universals? And if so, what is the relationship between these universals and those formulated for primary languages? Given these questions, the purpose of the paper is to: (1) investigate some of the methodological considerations…

Investigated whether topic-prominence transfer is a universal developmental stage or a transferable typology by analyzing the behavior of 46 native speakers of English learning Chinese, a subject-prominence (SP) language, as a second language. Results found that the learners displayed a process of systematically transferring English SP features to…

Analysis of the responses of Spanish, Chinese, and German learners of English-as-a-Second-Language to English sentences with empty pronominal categories found that, although empty pronouns were pragmatically more natural in finite clauses of Spanish and Chinese than in English or German, only the Spanish subjects had significantly higher mean…

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…

The contrastive linguistics papers contained in this collection concern a wide variety of issues within the field -- ranging from phonology and syntax to interference and error analysis in foreign language instruction. The papers, while discussing specific topics, for example, "Equivalence, Congruence, and Deep Structure" or "Comparative Analysis…

Two monographs are included in this volume--Enkvist's "On Defining Style, an Essay in Applied Linguistics," and Spencer and Gregory's "An Approach to the Study of Style." The first monograph discusses the history of stylistics (linguistic and literary), different approaches to the problem of definition of style theory, and offers some remarks on…

The parameter-setting model of universal grammar provides a basis for integrating two theories of second language acquisition: contrastive analysis and creative construction. The elicited responses of adult native speakers of Spanish and adult native speakers of Japanese were examined. The head-initial/head-final parameter was the principle…