Discussion of the role of pragmatics research in language teaching looks at the role such research should play in the language classroom, and the role of researcher, teacher, and teacher educator in making that connection. It is noted that pragmatics research has discovered a number of differences in the ways in which first- and second-language…

In a study with seventh- and eighth-graders, Spanish-English bilinguals (n=41) and English monolinguals (n=48) used brief English contexts to choose among possible meanings for unfamiliar words. Two types of errors were compared: transfer errors, which were answers consistent with Spanish but not English syntax, and non-transfer errors, which were…

A study compared (1) data on rejections of advice by native and non-native speakers collected from natural conversation with (2) data collected from a discourse completion task (DCT). Subjects were students in an academic advising session (13 native speakers, 11 non-native speakers of English) who responded to a DCT and students (18 native…

A study investigated the ways in which the background of six Spanish-English bilinguals has affected their attitudes toward the two languages and the transfer of skills between first and second languages, especially as it might relate to writing instruction. A review of literature looks at studies of linguistic and social aspects of the Hispanic…

This introduction to second language learning is intended to provide language teachers with basic information on relevant principles and processes. After an introductory chapter, the second chapter looks at traditional beliefs about language learning, including those concerning transfer of first-language knowledge to the second language, the role…

A study investigated the use of the interlanguage of a native speaker of Chinese using English. The subject was an art school instructor, and data were drawn from three recordings of language used in his role as teacher. It was found that despite different situations, the nature of the task determined the kind of language-learner language used.…

Research on the language development of children in immersion programs has uncovered a certain amount of data. Immersion students have less well developed productive skills than their francophone peers and passive receptive skills which approach those of francophones. Error analysis studies have found that immersion students reach a plateau in…

This issue of the journal includes these papers on contrastive linguistics: "Contrastive Patholinguistics: The Acquisition of English Grammatical Morphemes by German Dyslexics in a Foreign-Language Teaching Context" (Udo O. H. Jung); "Contrastive Pragmatics" (Marie-Louise Liebe-Harkort); "On Questions in English and Swedish" (Kay Wikberg); "On…

Four papers on contrastive linguistics include: (1) "The Search for an Ideal Theoretical Model in Applied Contrastive Linguistics: A Wild Goose Chase" (Herman Wekker, Flor Aarts), which argues that contrastive linguists should feel free to adopt an eclectic approach to theory since no single linguistic model can be adopted in its entirety and…

Using the notion of interlanguage, this paper illustrates how a useful characterization may be obtained of some aspects of the English of Shona speakers. The interference hypothesis in language learning is demoted, while the interlanguage hypothesis in which interference plays a part, is promoted. Application of the interlanguage concept…

This theoretical study of second language learning is divided into eight sections: (1) "Elements of a Theory of Second Language Learning," (2) "Second Language Learning in the Light of Neurophysiological Findings," (3) "Cognitive Strategies in the Second Language Learning Process," (4) "On Accounting for the Role Played by Affective Factors in…

The "state of the art" in the three fields of contrastive analysis, error analysis and interlanguage is critically examined from the point of view of evolving an explanatory theory of a second language learner's performance. Each field is discussed with respect to its outreach, theoretical assumptions, methodology, claims and empirical…

Limitations of language acquisition research are: the restricted linguistic scope of studies; lack of data in cognitive processes and learning strategies, the role of individual variables, second language acquisition, and the role of social and environmental variables; and undeveloped methodology for data collection and data analysis. (SCC)

Interlanguage studies in second language acquisition and language for speciic purposes (LSP), though developed independently, often use the same data and could benefit from mutual interaction. Related issues for future research are presented. Contents of articles in this issue are reviewed. (Author/LMO)

The English composing processes and products of a group of Spanish researchers at the University of Cordoba, Spain, were studied. The group (1) has a good grasp of the information structure of the English scientific article; (2) rarely undertakes structural revision; and (3) is primarily concerned with precise expression of their thoughts.…