Discusses the conflict between the two camps of second-language learning that exist within the university environment, one emphasizing communicative competence and the other, the importance of exposure to culture and literature. Notes that much research is needed into the role of culture and literature in language learning. (52 references)…

Discusses the similarities between the science of chaos/complexity and second language acquisition (SLA). Notes that chaos/complexity scientists focus on how disorder yields to order and on how complexity arises in nature. Points out that the study of dynamic, complex nonlinear systems is meaningful in SLA as well. (78 references) (Author/CK)

Replicates prior research into the determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants using a dataset that controls for potential biases stemming from selective emigration, omitted variables, and the mismeasurement of key constructs. It finds that English proficiency rises with exposure to U.S. society and that a pattern exists in…

A study tested models concerning syntactic categories in early multiword speech by investigating overlap in contexts in which children (n=11) used determiner types. Results indicate children have little knowledge of relationships between different determiner types, suggesting development of an adultlike syntactic determiner category may be…

Preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLIs) and two groups of linguistically normally developing children described motion and change-of-state scenes while viewing a video, and patterns of verb use were analyzed. Although SLIs relied heavily on general all-purpose verbs, normally developing children used them more. SLIs made more verb…

Using frequency findings from corpus linguistics, explores the relationship between the information presented in English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language (ESL/EFL) materials and what is known about actual language use based on empirical studies. Three aspects of materials development for grammar instruction are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Investigates how second language intake was affected both by awareness and by the conditions under which a problem-solving task was performed. Spanish conditional sentences were presented to learners through five different degrees of explicitness. Intake was measured through a multiple-choice recognition test administered immediately after the…

Introduces this special issue of the journal and presents results from comparative research into the principles constraining learner varieties (interlanguages) in use. Articles analyze the oral production of complex verbal tasks in second language Dutch, English, French, German, and Italian. (Author/VWL)

Describes the transition from single to multiple word utterances in one child. The development illustrates the initial dissociation and later coordination of the temporal chaining of elements and meaning relatedness between elements and also the importance of repetition for the change from single-word utterances to meaning-related, multiword…

Input language addressed to language-learning children was analyzed to assess the quality of the semantic-syntactic correspondence posited by the semantic bootstrapping hypothesis. This correspondence was strong--objects were labeled with nouns, actions with verbs, attributes with adjectives--and may serve to make children's construction of…

Investigates whether transfer of reading and listening comprehension skills occurs in bilingual programs. Finds that reading and listening skills in the native language do transfer to reading in the second language but that general language ability is not significantly involved in the transfer of reading skills to a second language. (RS)

Explains the differences between constituency and dependency theories for structural linguistics. Reasons are provided for why the former has been indirectly responsible for the neglect of lexical acquisition in language acquisition research and for proposing a notation based on dependency theory for describing learners' segmentation of initially…

Theory and research suggest three ways grammar instruction might assist second-language acquisition. These include the following: as an advance organizer; as a meaning-form focus in communication activities where there are many examples of a single meaning-form relationship; and through monitoring, if learners can acquire their own input. (41…

Examination of the use of short "tongue-twister" phrases in eliciting spontaneous slips of the tongue in five year olds indicated that the technique was a feasible and beneficial method for collecting spoonerism data from children. (24 references) (CB)

Examines the struggle between dominant and minority groups in terms of the use of language. Traces the development of literacy as a means of social control in the United States and England. Argues that linking literacy with standard language creates an effective form of ideological hegemony. (FMW)