This study investigated the effects of text modification and task on incidental learning of foreign language vocabulary by reading. The focus of the study was on how different cue types (appositives and single and multiple-choice marginal glosses) and a task (translation) would affect processing of input, initial learning, and retention of the meaning of target words in a text. Two hundred thirty-one students in Japanese universities were randomly assigned to 10 condition groups. After a pretest, a reading task, and a cloze test, they were given a surprise vocabulary test. A week later, two unexpected delayed posttests were also given. The results indicated that (a) both single and multiple-choice marginal gloss conditions performed significantly better than the no cue and the appositive conditions, (b) no statistically significant difference existed between the single and the multiple-choice gloss conditions nor between the appositive and the no cue conditions, and (c) the translation task had no effect.

A major requirement for theory development in L2 vocabulary acquisition is an adequate model of L2 lexical organization and processing. At present, there is no widely accepted model of this kind, but recent research has demonstrated the potential usefulness of Levelt's (1989, 1993) L1 speech processing model (de Bot & Schreuder, 1993; Green, 1993; Poulisse, 1993). This paper explores the relevance of the model as adapted for L2 lexical processing of written texts, with particular attention to its mental lexicon components (concepts, lemmas, and lexemes) and organization. The model is first discussed in terms of its relevance to L2 lexical access, retrieval, and acquisition processes. Findings of an introspective L2 vocabulary study follow, detailing how university ESL learners reported dealing with unfamiliar words while carrying out L2 reading tasks. The information provided on their lexical inferencing strategy and varied knowledge sources used in the process provide support for the lexical components and organization proposed by Levelt. It is argued in this paper that the process of inferring the features of unknown words in a reading passage can be described in terms of lemma construction, as defined in the model.

This paper provides evidence from a study of ESL speakers that cross-language transfer effects interact, sometimes in very subtle ways, with developmental effects in the construction of L2 syllable structures. It extends Broselow and Finer's (1991) proposal for the Minimal Sonority Distance Parameter-Setting (MSD) model in L2 syllables by (a) adding evidence from a language that unambiguously exhibits transfer in complex onsets and (b) examining syllable codas to see whether the MSD parameter can be extended to account for the distribution of error patterns there, as well. The results of the study generally support the predictions that the MSD model makes for consonant cluster difficulty in specific syllable positions; however, it does not make predictions about the patterns that are found in learner error types. We argue that optimality theory (Prince & Smolensky, 1993) provides a more explicit account of the interactions between transfer and developmental effects in L2 syllables, allowing us to interpret within a singular grammatical framework not only why learners have difficulty with specific ESL structures but also how they resolve it.

This empirical study investigates the relationship between language aptitude components and second language (L2) outcomes among learners whose intensive L2 exposure began at different ages. The learners in this study are 65 11th-grade students in continuing early and late French immersion programs. Evidence is found to support the main hypothesis that in late immersion starting in adolescence there will be a positive relationship between L2 outcomes and an analytical dimension of language aptitude, whereas in early immersion beginning in grade 1 a positive relationship will hold between L2 outcomes and memory ability. A further hypothesis that early immersion students will have higher language aptitude as a result of their early L2 exposure is not supported by the findings.

The authors begin their book with the assertion, “Many linguists today assume that theirs is an empirical and deductive science, and that scientific progress in the domain of their research is possible” (p. 1). They then proceed in an interesting, well-written, and informative case study of the evolution of generative grammar to cast doubt on the veracity of this assertion. The central focus is the nature of the debates among researchers developing what came to be known as generative semantics and interpretive semantics. The book attempts to detail who influenced whom and who was interested in what. More particularly, Huck and Goldsmith ask to what extent data, analyses, and argumentation were critical to the debates. The central question is: To what extent were generativist scholars moved one way or the other by rational considerations? The answer, not surprisingly, is: Not much. The real story is one about personalities, not about truth and reason. They attempt to explain why paying particular attention to the personalities involved, the role of the linguistic institutions where the participants worked, and the research agendas of each is important.

Applied linguistics embodies a kaleidoscope of disciplines, theoretical approaches, research paradigms, and beliefs about practice. Its diversity is reflected in this festschrift honoring Henry Widdowson. The volume contains the contributions of 27 authors from five continents and, like the honoree's own body of work, represents a wide range of topics. In their introductory chapter, the editors outline the disciplines they have chosen to include: assessment, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, language teaching, literature, second language acquisition, and the relationship among theory, research, and practice. As this list reveals, other areas of applied linguistics are notably absent: first language literacy, language planning and policy, and translation, among others. Omissions are no doubt necessary in order to compile a volume of manageable size; in spite of these omissions, readers will find the contributions absorbing and take pleasure in tracing thematic threads throughout. A sampling of major themes is outlined here.

When I saw that this book was a comprehensive study of the relationships across discourse, grammar, and prosody, my spirits sagged. “Oh, no,” I thought. “Not this story again.” But 20 pages into the book I realized that Lambrecht had taken a new and sobering approach to the subject, tackling a very hard subject and giving convincing answers with clear data.

Reflections on Language Learning is a festschrift to honor the work of Antonieta Celani, a Professor of English at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil, and the foremost promoter of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Latin America. The book consists of a collection of 20 essays written by her students and colleagues from around the world, most reporting on studies that were carried out for the purpose of this volume. The essays are equally divided into four categories: project development, teacher education, language processing, and business interaction analysis.

The age issue has been with us for some time, and Singleton and Lengyel's six-paper volume indicates it will accompany us into the next millennium. In the L1A = L2A spirit of the 1970s, nonlinguistic accounts for age differences were offered. Yet if factors such as anxiety or ego permeability are responsible for lack of L2 success after a certain age, studies of postpuberty failure either point to the difficulty of reducing affective factors to prepuberty levels or, alternatively, offer support for a neurobiologically based Critical Period. These studies notwithstanding, it is helpful to return to the original question: Is the outcome of adult L2 acquisition always failure?

This book, an addition to the Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers series, clearly falls on the applied end of the research-applied spectrum. Still, the author takes a gentle but insistent stance that research into communication provides practical insights to the classroom teacher.

This collected volume on English language teaching (ELT) in India contains 22 articles written by Indian teachers and researchers. The book has been divided into six sections. The first section—“Problematizing ELT in India”—offers a critical, historical perspective along with innovative ideas for making English language learning and teaching meaningful and purposive in modern India. The second section—“Nature of ELT Materials”—demonstrates how the ELT materials used in Indian classrooms are not embedded in local needs and indigenous contexts. The section emphasizes the importance of developing instructional materials that not only make use of the rich linguistic and cultural resources available in India but also promote effective communication skills among the learners. The third section—“Learner Profiles”—provides interesting insights into the needs, wants, and lacks of Indian learners of English. This section shows how the instruments of needs analysis developed in monocultural and monolingual settings are inadequate for assessing the needs and wants of learners in multilingual and multicultural India. The fourth section—“Classroom Issues”—focuses on certain central issues affecting teaching and learning in the classroom context, particularly the role of native language knowledge and skills that Indian learners bring with them. The fifth section—“Course Evaluation and Teacher Development”—suggests ideas for making teacher education responsive to the changing roles and responsibilities of language teachers. The sixth and final section—“Curriculum Change”—deals with the principles and procedures for curricular changes that are in tune with the evolving knowledge about learning and teaching and the increasing desire for learner control of the process of materials development and evaluation.

Computational Psycholinguistics is an integrated collection by researchers within psycholinguistics aimed at providing a balanced treatment of current computational modeling in both language perception and generation. The initial chapters of the book provide an introduction to the general techniques used in computational modeling (Dijkstra & de Smedt), as well as perspectives from traditional symbolic artificial intelligence (Daelemans & de Smedt) and connectionist approaches (Murre & Goebel). The themes presented in the introductory chapters are well integrated into the rest of the book, consistent with the goal of providing a relatively self-contained introduction, suitable for a graduate-level psycholinguistics classroom or a general introductory source.

This collection of 15 papers includes two that also appear in Lambert (1994). Lambert has included significant perspectives on language teaching in America, with papers reflecting elementary and secondary education as well as adult needs and language-maintenance efforts. Presenting an excellent, inclusive set of concerns, this issue of Annals deserves special attention.

This book, based on an undergraduate course at Cambridge University, provides a comprehensive introduction to language change. Chapter 1 sets forth the history of the study of language change and the basic questions in the field. The remainder of the book is divided into two parts. Chapters 2–7 examine internally motivated change at the phonological, syntactic, semantic, and lexical levels. Within each chapter, the author outlines important theoretical positions, from the Neogrammarians to the generative work of Lightfoot and more recent studies of grammaticalization. Although, as McMahon notes, the separation of types of language change by levels involves considerable idealization, the result is greater clarity of organization. The second part (Chapters 8–12), which is concerned with language contact, language variation, pidgins and creoles, language attrition and death, and linguistic evolution, is organized topically. It is this section that is perhaps of most interest to students of SLA. As in the first section, McMahon reviews the perspectives on language change that emerge from a wide variety of classic studies, including Bickerton's work on Guyanese Creole and Dorian's studies of East Sutherland Gaelic. Although specialists might be disappointed to see their favorite studies missing, the examples provide an effective introduction for the intended audience of undergraduates.

Ethnomethodology is a qualitative research methodology developed as an alternative possibility for social scientists investigating the different ways in which reality is socially constructed. For theorists and researchers of language acquisition and language use in educational settings, ethnomethodology makes it possible to examine social discourse and participation structures in and out of school that are tied to success or failure in language learning. As Gumperz explains, with the help of ethnomethodology we study how knowledge is acquired, what role differences in home and ethnic background play in the acquisition process, and how the acquisition process interacts with evaluational progress and the child's motivation to learn.