Traces the history of linguistic theory as it has affected the field of second language instruction. (AM)

Two questions, what is a contrastive grammar, and what is comparable across linguistic systems, are touched on. The problem of the exact relationship of contrastive linguistics to linguistic theory is addressed. Two perhaps mutually exclusive views are discussed. See FL 508 197 for availability. (Author/RM)

On the basis of evidence from general linguistic theory and psycholinguistic research, it is argued that the working hypotheses of the audiolingual habit theory are inconsistent with studies of human verbal learning tasks, and that transformation grammarians have shown convincingly that structuralist views of language are too narrow in scope. It…

A device of emphasis in French syntax is defined as a construction of syntactic paraphrase whose function is to make certain parts of a sentence stand out for purposes of contrast, clarification, differentiation, or because a given element is considered important. These devices exist in French because of the lack of a phonemic stress system, and…

MANY ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO DEFINE "AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD" FROM THE POINTS OF VIEW OF TWO COMPETING THEORIES OF LEARNING, THE BEHAVIORISTIC AND THE COGNITIVE. NONE HAS SUCCEEDED IN DEFINING SOME OF THE SPECIFIC TENETS TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AS REQUIRED BY AN IMPROVED THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING. A FLEXIBLE AND PROGRESSIVE…

In this paper, two theoretical approaches to language teaching, the audio-lingual and the cognitive code methods, are examined with respect to how they deal with feedback in the classroom situation. Audio-lingual theorists either ignore completely the need for feedback in the classroom or deal with it only in terms of its reinforcing attributes.…

The comprehension of deviant sentences is dependent on several linguistic variables. Grammaticalness (G), meaningfulness (M), and familiarity (F) are three variables which are potentially such. In order to study the effect of violating these variables upon Ss' responses to deviant sentences, 85 deviant and 15 correct sentences were assigned to…

Seeking out inter-language differences in the execution of a contrastive analysis is given priority over looking for manifestations of language universals. But unless a contrastive study is based upon an understanding of language universals and contains a set of instructions for how each language realizes them, the common ground for contrast can…

A brief discussion of the role of contrastive linguistics and transformational generative grammar in studying transfer and interference in language learning. The base language is not necessarily the mother tongue. It is the language known by the learner which most closely resembles the new language being learned. (AMH)

Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, March 1971, New Orleans, Louisiana, based on a study supported in part by a University of Hawaii Curriculum Development Grant. (VM)