This article reexamines Critical Period and L1/L2 differences by looking at the development of Spanish morphosyntax by young Anglophone immersion learners, in light of two hypotheses, Full Transfer/Full Access (FTFA) and Failed Functional Features (FFFH). FTFA maintains that syntax and morphology develop separately in L2 acquisition for adults and…

Over the past fifteen years or so examiner input in oral proficiency interviews has provided a constant topic of discussion within language assessment quarters. Despite the attention received, the precise nature of such input remains largely elusive, as does its relationship to test-taker performance and its assessment. The aim of this paper is to…

While resumptive pronouns (RPs) are generally not allowed in English relative clauses, Chinese allows the use of RPs in indirect object position and genitive position but not in subject and direct object positions. Arabic languages allow RPs in direct object position as well as in indirect object position and genitive position, although not in…

This descriptive study analyzed the emergence of the imperfect in the written production of 30 beginning learners of Spanish. The analysis focused on the use of the imperfect and the morphological marking of state verbs. The results follow the patterns predicted by the aspect hypothesis (Andersen and Shirai, 1994), and support some refinements of…

In this paper we discuss recent neuroimaging evidence on three issues: (1) whether the same "language" areas are used to process a second language (L2) as the first language (L1) (2) the extent to which this depends on age of acquisition and (3) to the extent that the same areas of the brain are used, are they used in the same way? The results…

In this study, we test the prediction, derived from the Critical Period Hypothesis, that a native level in L2 grammar cannot be attained by learners who start acquiring a second language after childhood. We selected 43 very advanced late learners of Dutch (native speakers of German, French and Turkish) and compared their performance on a grammar…

This commentary addresses the use of nativelikeness and non-nativelikeness in research relating to the age factor in L2A. I suggest that, in the context of the Critical Period Hypothesis as it applies to L2A, the criteria of nativelikeness and non-nativelikeness may be subject to abuse. I also argue that the use of the monolingual native standard…

While almost all observers agree that young children, older children, and adults differ both in initial rate of acquisition and in the levels of ultimate attainment typically achieved, they continue to disagree over whether the observed patterns are a function of nurture or nature. Is it simply that older starters "do not" do as well because they…

Research on age-related effects in L2 development often invokes the idea of a critical period--the postulation of which is customarily referred to as the Critical Period Hypothesis. This paper argues that to speak in terms of the Critical Period Hypothesis is misleading, since there is a vast amount of variation in the way in which the critical…

Two views of listening are examined. The first, listening as comprehension, emphasizes accessing meaning through listening, and focusses on the message rather than on form. The second, listening as acquisition, emphasizes the role of listening in promoting language acquisition, and emphasizes the role of noticing in facilitating language…

School- and university-based writing tasks make demands on cognitive processing and socio-cultural knowledge that vary with the discipline in which the writing is situated. The variation in socio-cognitive demands makes the use of self-accessed, computer-mediated writing instruction more promising than conventional, teacher-fronted instruction. To…

Hoey (1991) claims that lexical patterns, which are a network of repetitious and synonymous words of a text, can be identified even by elementary foreign language readers. The present study investigates whether intermediate Japanese EFL readers can actually find elements of lexical patterns of a text Hoey uses in his book to demonstrate the…

This paper analyses the use of the word "where" in texts written by Malay-speaking learners of English. Data from a learner corpus is compared with data from two corpora of academic writing by native English-speaker writers. Considerable over-use of "where" is found: this is explained as a consequence of various patterns of misuse of "where" and…

This paper examines the effects of intercultural experience on teacher professionalism. The main methods for data collection consist of semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. Analysis of participants' experiences of Department for International Development's (DFID) English language teaching projects shows that intercultural…

Many elementary EFL teachers in Taiwan have concerns in integrating target culture teaching into their language classrooms for reasons such as teachers' limited knowledge of the target culture, lack of time, lack of methods and materials. In order to persuade more language teachers to teach target language culture, guidelines about designing an…