Two nonce-word studies examined German-speaking children's productivity with the "Perfekt" (present perfect) from 2;6 to 3;6. The German "Perfekt" consists of the past participle of the main verb and an inflected form of an auxiliary (either "haben" "have" or "sein" "be"). In Study 1, nonce verbs were either introduced in the infinitival form, and…

There has been relatively little discussion in the field of child language acquisition about how best to sample from children's spontaneous speech, particularly with regard to quantitative issues. Here we provide quantitative information designed to help researchers make decisions about how best to sample children's speech for particular research…

The purpose of this research was to show how the syntactic and semantic components of the tense-aspect system interact during the acquisition process. Our methodology involved: (1) identifying predicates, (2) finding the initial occurrence of their tense-aspect morphology, and (3) observing the emergence of contrasts. Six children learning Polish…

Recasts have figured prominently in recent SLA research, with studies documenting significant advantages for learners exposed to this type of negative feedback. Although some researchers have suggested that such findings imply a beneficial role for negative evidence (i.e., information regarding the impossibility of certain utterances in the…

Interaction research about the role of language production in second language (L2) development has focused largely on modified output, specifically learners' responses to negative feedback (Iwashita, 2001; Loewen & Philp, in press; Mackey & Philp, 1998; McDonough, 2005; McDonough & Mackey, in press; Nobuyoshi & Ellis, 1993; Pica, 1988; Shehadeh,…

We show that Kempen and Harbusch's ("Cognition" (2003) "this issue") arguments against our claims cannot be upheld. On the one hand, their alternative account of our data that is based on the availability of constructions with object-experiencer verbs is not compatible with the literature on the processing of these types of sentences in German.…

In the field of applied linguistics the activities involved in developing instructional materials and those working in second language research and the more theoretical areas of applied linguistics are often seen to have little connection. This paper is an exploration of some of the kinds of interaction that are possible between research, theory…

Research on communication with infants, including newborns, has demonstrated that imitations in great variety play many different parts, and with emotions of interest and pleasure. Matching another's actions may seek attention and provoke reply, accept or reject advances, express admiration or mockery. It seems best to regard imitating as one way…

This article first introduces some theoretical considerations concerning the emergence and evolution of sign languages from the semiogenetic perspective. It then presents results from a linguistic study of the phenomenon of lexical stabilization in three emerging sign languages used by Brazilian deaf adults who live in a hearing environment…

This article explores some critical methodological and theoretical issues that emerge from recent research into word association behaviour in second language (L2) learners. The studies that we discuss here all use computer simulations as a tool to investigate L2 lexical networks, and to compare these networks with those of first language (L1)…

This article discusses three claims of the Graded Salience Hypothesis presented in Rachel Giora's book "On our mind". It is argued that these claims may give second language researchers the chance to revise the way they think about word meaning, the literal meaning-figurative meaning dichotomy and the role of context in language…

This study investigated the acquisition of word initial s clusters of 3-5 year old Dutch children with phonological disorders. Within these clusters, sl was produced correctly most often, whereas sn and sx were the more difficult clusters. In cluster reductions, s+obstruent and sl clusters reduction patterns followed the Sonority Sequencing…

This investigation examines Thai college students' motivational goals for learning the English language. Thai student volunteers (N = 1387) from two types of educational institutions participated in this survey study which combined measures of goal orientations based on two different goal constructs and motivation models. Results of two-step…

In this review of research in applied linguistics and language teaching and learning in Singapore, more than one hundred national publications for the period 2000-2007 will be reviewed. Since this period encompasses certain changes that were introduced in Singapore schools at the start of the new millennium, it would be appropriate to take stock…

This paper is a general study of one of varieties of English--China English and its influence on English Language Teaching (ELT) for English majors. The status of English as an International language breaks the situation in which British English or American English is the sole standard. English becomes World Englishes, taking on a plural form,…