Investigated the acquisition of Japanese unaccusative verbs by English-speaking learners, specifically whether second language learners are sensitive to syntactic and semantic properties associated with the "takusan" construction as a syntactic test and the "-teiru" construction as a semantic test. Results show learners generally know the…

Introduces the concept of lexical unit as proposed by Cruse (1986) in the context of second language vocabulary learning to replace the notion of "word." Defines the concept in terms of lexical semantics and applies it to the task of learning a second language. Describes studies in which the learning of different types of lexical units is…

Illuminates the psycholinguist mechanism that underlies the claim made by the output hypothesis that production makes the learner move from semantic processing prevalent in comprehension to more syntactic processing that is necessary for second language development. Reviews previous literature in language acquisition and cognitive psychology on…

Ways are described in which studies on grammaticalization in second-language learning are a challenge for second-language acquisition theory. This article introduces four articles on grammaticalization. (21 references) (LB)

Data from 82 native speakers of Chinese were used to test a hypothesis about the topic in Chinese. The basic characteristics are those of being a nominal and serving as an interclausal link, and the hypothesis is revised to consist of these two as primary attributes. The Chinese prototype and the universal topic are compared. (Contains 20…

Discusses syntactic optionality, the coexistence within an individual grammar of two or more variants of a given construction that make use of the same lexical resources and express the same meaning. Focus is on syntactic optionality in second language grammars. (Author/VWL)

This study compared the morphosyntax of French speaking children with specific language impairment to the morphosyntax of English speaking children acquiring a second language (French). Findings indicated that use of morphosyntax by both groups has significant similarities and children in both groups demonstrated optional infinitive effects in…

This article reviews recent research on the second language acquisition of meaning with a view of establishing whether there is a critical period for the acquisition of compositional semantics. It is claimed that the functional lexicon presents the most formidable challenge, while syntax and phrasal semantics pose less difficulty to learners.…

Foreign language learning is a challenging task, involving mastering a new sound system, phonological and syntactical forms, vocabulary, and sometimes a new writing system. For the adult second language learner, one of the most frustrating aspects is having an inadequate vocabulary for expressing complex ideas that are so easy to relate in one's…

A sample of elementary school-and high school-age deaf students in special education programs in the Australian state of Queensland using Australasian Signed English (ASE) took the Test of Syntactic Abilities (Quigley, Steinkamp, Power, & Jones, 1978) and wrote a story in response to a wordless picture sequence. Several analyses of the…

Although the organization of first language (L1) and second language (L2) lexicosemantic information has been extensively studied in the bilingual literature, little evidence exists concerning how syntactic information associated with words is represented across languages. The present study examines the shared or independent nature of the…

This study investigates whether or not abstract-level linguistic features, not successfully acquired abroad, will be acquired once the advanced language learner returns from a study abroad program and is exposed to linguistic instruction. The goal of the study was to measure the development of the Spanish subjunctive in adverbial clauses collected…

This paper presents an empirical study of how different "wh"-words behave in English speakers' L2 Chinese "wh"-questions. Our results indicate that L2 Chinese "wh"-questions are specified by the Chinese "wh" -particle ne and that there is neither variability nor L1 transfer in this aspect of L2 grammars as no "wh"-movement is found in English…

This article investigates the L2 acquisition of clausal syntax in postpuberty learners of German and Swedish regarding V2, VP headedness, and verb particle constructions. The learner data are tested against L2 theories according to which lower structural projections (VP) are acquired before higher functional projections (IP, CP), VP syntax is…

Many factors that contribute towards the perception of second language (L2) sounds and the subsequent establishment of L2 phonetic categories have been the focus of past research. However, learning a third language, unlike SLA, may be influenced by additional factors attributed to the presence of two language systems in a bilingual instead of one…