This study deals with the development and recoverability of word-final codas in Chinese-Swedish interlanguage. The relation between consonant deletion and vowel epenthesis is investigated from both a developmental perspective and a grammatical-functional one. Longitudinal, conversational data from three Chinese beginner learners of Swedish were analyzed. First, it is shown that for these learners the acquisition of Swedish codas was U-shaped rather than linear such that they exhibited relatively high accuracy rates at early stages, lower accuracy rates at later stages, and again high accuracy rates at more advanced stages. It is also demonstrated that the epenthesis-deletion differential is closely related to second language proficiency in that the proportion of epenthesis to deletion errors increases over time. Furthermore, the data show that word-final codas that are relatively important for the retention of semantically relevant information generate lower overall frequencies of simplification and greater epenthesis-deletion proportions than codas containing information that is relatively recoverable from other segments or features in the context.

It has been suggested that tense and aspect distributions are very difficult to learn in a second language (L2), they are prone to fossilize universally, and their interpretive properties are subject to a critical period (Coppieters, 1987). This study focuses on the acquisition of the semantic implications of the preterite-imperfect contrast in Spanish by English-speaking individuals of very advanced proficiency in Spanish who were not living in a Spanish-speaking country. By assuming that aspect is encoded in a functional category where the features [+/-perfective] are checked, depending on the language (Giorgi & Pianesi, 1997), this study asks whether ultimate attainment in the aspectual domain is possible and whether features of functional categories not selected in early childhood are subject to a critical period, as Hawkins and Chan's (1997) Failed Formal Features Hypothesis states. Experimental evidence from two tasks probing the interpretations of perfective and imperfective aspectual forms in Spanish suggests that many learners (almost 30%) in our total subject pool (including advanced to near-native speakers) and 70% of the near-native group performed like native speakers on all sentence types in all tasks. Although aspect is certainly a difficult area to master, particularly because the meanings of the imperfect are acquired quite late, L2 learners are clearly able to overcome the parametric options of their native language. At least for this domain, it is suggested that access to Universal Grammar does not necessarily decay with age in L2 acquisition.

This study compares patterns of consonant-to-consonant timing at word boundaries in English and Russian and investigates the roles of transfer and the emergence of linguistic universals in second language (L2) articulation. Native Russian speakers learning English and native English speakers learning Russian produced phrases in English and Russian contrasting VC#CV, VC#V, and V#CV sequences. The duration of all stop closures was measured as well as the percentage of consonant sequences in which the first consonant was audibly released. In their native language (L1), Russian speakers had a higher percentage of released final consonants than did English speakers in their L1 as well as a higher ratio of sequence-to-singleton duration. Examination of the timing patterns across different clusters revealed different articulatory strategies for the two languages. The native Russian pattern transferred to L2 English, but the native English pattern did not transfer to L2 Russian. Evidence was found for both articulatory transfer and the emergence of a default pattern of articulation, characteristic of neither L1 nor L2.

A variety of studies have reported that learners of English as a second language find subject relative clauses easier to produce and comprehend than direct object relatives, but it is unclear whether this preference should be attributed to structural factors or to a linear distance effect. This paper seeks to resolve this issue and to extend our understanding of SLA in general by investigating the interpretation of subject and direct object relative clauses by English-speaking learners of Korean, a left-branching language in which subject gaps in relative clauses are more distant from the head than are object gaps. The results of a comprehension task conducted with 53 beginning and intermediate learners point toward a strong preference for subject relative clauses, favoring the structural account.

In this volume Brumfit provides a detailed, yet highly readable, analysis of many problems that at least partially arise from viewing language as a static code. He describes language as a dynamic force that interacts with other social forces and practices and as a process that is permeable, variable, and useful. He argues that the best way to teach, research, and plan language policy is to recognize and enhance the users' abilities to use language for their own permeable, variable, and unpredictable purposes.

This book, as part of a series published by Erlbaum entitled Second language acquisition research: Theoretical and methodological issues, addresses the question as to how the acquisition of a nonnative language progresses through interaction in language classrooms. As the author admits (p. xiii), this is hardly a new topic in studies of SLA. The book, however, sheds some new light by introducing novel theoretical and methodological perspectives in dealing with this old topic. The author finds in Vygotskyan ideas a theoretical stance to frame her views of language, the language learner, and the language learning process. Furthermore, it focuses on the second language (L2) acquisition of Japanese by English-speaking learners, which has only recently begun attracting the attention of SLA researchers.

Preservice kindergarten through university teachers will benefit from these books' overview of the field and their carefully weighed claims about what counts as literacy practices in language arts and English classrooms. Though geared more toward a general audience of literacy teachers, the books do have sections and chapters that would appeal to preservice second language teachers. The straightforward writing in both books will be easily accessible to students for whom this may be the first encounter with literacy and classroom research. Taking different tacks on literacy research, the books complement each other well: Where Kucer's survey stops, the Comber and Simpson collection picks up.

This volume presents a series of empirical studies that reflect the editors' commitment to the exploration of pedagogic tasks from three interrelated perspectives—learning, teaching, and testing. The introductory chapter by the editors sets the tone of the volume by advocating this view of tasks and provides the basis for a definition that differs from previous, generic definitions in its emphasis on “the different purposes to which tasks are used” (p. 5). Therefore, according to the editors, tasks are inherently distinct and highly dependent on the situational context in which they develop. The departure from former task definitions aims: (a) to avoid continuous misinterpretations between the pedagogy and the research fields, (b) to create a space for understanding the purpose that tasks serve in different areas, and (c) to elude “inappropriate standards for task evaluation” (p. 12). The rest of the chapters are grouped into three sections according to area of emphasis (learning, teaching, or testing). Each section begins with a brief introduction to the chapters it includes.

This book presents a task-based instructional framework for communicative language teaching. The first seven chapters focus on task-based instruction, and the remaining two chapters deal with assessment. Each chapter begins with a brief review, goes on to the topic of discussion, and ends with a summary. Two sections follow each chapter. In “Gaining Greater Perspectives,” Lee recommends further readings for in-depth reflection of the topic of the chapter. The “Application Activities” section contains a number of exercises to put into practice the concepts discussed in the chapter.

This discussion of second language (L2) phonological development is rooted in what the author refers to as the three features of interlanguage (IL): native language (L1) contribution (as positive or negative transfer to the L2), L2 input, and universal language principles not subsumed by either language.

Whether they are collecting data from spoken or written sources, learners or teachers, English corpora or academic essays, or talk about disease and illness, applied linguists are confronted with the pervasive use of metaphor. Metaphor, as a mode of talk and thought, is a way of making meaning that is particularly linked to the sociocultural context. What counts as a metaphor? How can we operationalize, analyze, and categorize it? What research methodology is best suited for the study of metaphor? Cameron and Low's timely collection of papers is a first attempt to put metaphor research on the map of applied linguistics.

David Singleton observes in the opening lines of Language and the lexicon that “almost everything in language is related in some way or other to words” (p. 1). There is little wonder, therefore, that the lexicon has been at the center of linguistic research and controversies for a long time. Organized into 10 chapters, this book offers a concise overview of major topics in contemporary research. The first chapter provides necessary background information and an overview of the volume. The remaining nine chapters cover a wide range of issues relevant to the lexicon, lexicology, and lexicography. Chapter 2 looks at the lexicon-syntax interface and introduces some contemporary approaches to linguistics and to the lexicon in particular. Chapter 3 presents basic aspects of morphology and word formation, whereas chapter 4 deals with “lexical partnerships,” especially collocations, and rudimentary information on language corpora. Chapter 5 turns to lexical semantics and problems involved in analyzing meaning, and chapter 6 briefly investigates the relations between words, sounds, signs, and writing systems. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on different dimensions of lexical change. Chapter 7 tackles the social, regional, and situational aspects of lexical variation, and chapter 8 describes lexical change, historical processes, language contact, and lexical engineering. Chapter 9 explores the mental lexicon and models of lexical processing. This chapter includes a disappointingly short section on the lexicon in SLA. Finally, the last chapter surveys key concepts and developments in lexicography.

This book is a collection of papers dealing with the philosophical, conceptual, and empirical foundations of phonology, its position and relation with respect to syntax and phonetics in the theory of language, and the nature and acquisition of phonological knowledge. The introductory chapter by the editors provides a comprehensive discussion of the main themes presented in the following 11 chapters, in which diverse perspectives are represented. Bromberger and Halle open with a discussion of phonology within the context of the philosophy of language. Some chapters take a highly formal view of phonology: Hale and Reiss argue that phonology operates without reference to phonetic substance, and van der Hulst maintains that phonology and syntax are subject to the same operating principles. In contrast, the chapters by Burton-Roberts and Carr argue that phonology is substantive and should be excluded from the language faculty. Some papers adopt a more empirical approach: Docherty and Foulkes argue that phonological knowledge must include systematic sociophonetic variation; Fitzpatrick and Wheeldon discuss psycholinguistic research on spoken word comprehension; and Pierrehumbert, Beckman, and Ladd advocate experimental verification of phonological theory. Issues related to phonetics versus phonology are addressed by Myers, who distinguishes the gradual versus categorical nature of phonetics and phonology, Harris and Lindsey, who propose that vowel features are formulated on the basis of phonetic spectral patterns, and Vihman and Velleman, who discuss how phonological categories emerge from phonetic input in child language acquisition.

The present volume highlights studies of languages created by contact-induced language change in Australia and the Pacific. Editor Jeff Siegel identifies six processes involved in the formation of pidgins, creoles, and other such language contact varieties: reanalysis, simplification, leveling, diffusion, language shift, and depidginization/decreolization. The process of reanalysis is the focus of four chapters: “The Role of Australian Aboriginal Language in the Formation of Australian Pidgin Grammar: Transitive Verbs and Adjectives” by Koch; “‘Predicate Marking' in Bislama” by Crowley; “Predicting Substrate Influence: Tense-Modality-Aspect Marking in Tayo” by Siegel, Sandeman, and Corne; “My Nephew Is My Aunt: Features and Transformation of Kinship Terminology in Solomon Islands Pijin” by Jourdan; and “Na pa kekan, na person: The Evolution of Tayo Negatives” by Corne.

The purpose of this book is to “fill a gap in the literature of the politics of bilingual education in the United States: the role of the legislature in the passage of the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and its aftermath” (p. xi). The authors use Easton's “framework for political analysis” to trace the passage of this legislation. Examined as part of the framework are the environment, inputs, legislative system, and outputs, each of which is covered in separate chapters.

Contrastive rhetoric—an analytical framework for the study of second language writing—has had incredible staying power. Since Kaplan's (1966) original paper, this framework has been used in dozens of studies that compare the rhetorical organizations of written texts produced by writers from different cultures and native languages (L1s). Additionally, the framework has been elaborated and refined considerably to account for the extensive range of linguistic variability found among written texts from different text types; more recent treatments include Grabe and Kaplan (1996, chap. 7) and Connor (1996).