Saussure proposed the division language/parole and argued that language can be studied as a formal system. Fifty years later Chomsky declared competence the core interest of linguistics. Although for years Generative second language acquisition (GenSLA) has adopted this view, a number of recent publications poke holes into the competence bubble.…

Defends the idea that language is a unique, genetically underwritten "module of the mind" and considers consequences such a stance holds for the psycholinguistic study of nonnative language acquisition. Supports the position that language, as conceived within the tradition of generative grammar, is unlike other types of cognition and its basis is…

A review of trends in the teaching of foreign language during the last decade focuses on the predominance of the audiolingual method and current criticism by leading theorists of its theoretical foundations. Discussion of a psychological model of learning explores the relationships of motivation, cognition, evaluation, and response formation. The…

Pessimism regarding pedagogical applications of contrastive studies, and reasons therefore, are described. Several misunderstandings believed to contribute to this pessimism, and several areas of controversy concerning uses of contrastive studies, are discussed. See FL 508 197 for availability. (RM)

Considers the question of how much psycholinguistics can contribute to foreign language teaching. Transformational grammar as well as behaviorist, psychobiological and development-psychological approaches are considered. These various psycholinguistic directions are sketched and examined for their applicability to foreign language teaching. (Text…

Grammar translation method, direct method, and Army and audiolingual methods used for teaching modern foreign languages in America are described. A method based on psycholinguistic research and the theory of generative grammar is described, and its implications in teaching Mandarin Chinese are discussed. (RM)

Discusses the effects of American structural linguistics on beginning-level foreign language teaching. In the framework of applied linguistics, generative transformational grammar is evaluated. Psychology of learning is discussed, as are current conceptions of communicative competence and speech-act theory and possible effects of theoretical…

Tests on children between five and nine led to the conclusion that children's ability to recognize synonymous structures is progressively developed over a period of years and that there is a scale of difficulty involved. Paper presented at the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs Annual Conference, May 1969. (FWB)

Replies to Mellow's (1996) criticism of the authors' second language acquisition model. The article argues that this model is based on the psychological concept of exchange of linguistic information and that Mellow's evaluation of various types of transformational analysis is irrelevant. The article also addresses several points of detail in…

Shows the limitations of current foreign language teaching methods, particularly the audiolingual one. Unites certain findings of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and transformational grammar to construct a language teaching model. Examples of English verbs and nominals being taught to French children illustrate the…

Gives a brief overview of FL teaching, from the prelinguistic to the linguistic era, and discusses the advent of an era characterized by an eclectic approach which makes full use of all linguistic data, without being subservient to any linguistic theory, and gives full importance to sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic considerations. Available…

Deals with lexical derivation as it is manifested in the oral and written production of anglophone learners of Italian. Assumes that lexical derivation belongs to that linguistic competence which is based on creativity and that no essential differences exist between the ability of native and nonnative speakers to utilize this competence. (SED)

Second language (L2) learning has much more in common with L1 acquisition than has been traditionally acknowledged. New ideas about the nature of language, how it is learned, and how it is used must be taken into consideration when planning foreign language programs. (Author/CFM)