This paper discusses some possibilities and limitations of laboratory research methods for testing theories of second language acquisition. The paper includes a review of 20 experimental lab studies. The review focuses on the motivation for conducting lab studies, the use of artificial or semiartificial language structures, and various design features (including pre- and posttesting, number of subjects, random subject assignment, between- and within-subjects comparisons, treatment materials and procedures). The paper calls for lab studies addressing issues central to SLA theory (“learning” vs. “acquisition”) and ends with some methodological recommendations, concerning the length of experimental treatments, the use of grammaticality judgment tasks, the measurement of reaction times, and the use of retrospective interviews.

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.

This paper reviews current research on language and gender and discusses the implications of such work for gender-based research in second language acquisition. Recent work in sociolinguistics, generally, and language and gender research, more specifically, has rejected categorical and fixed notions of social identities in favor of more constructivist and dynamic ones. Thus, in this paper I elaborate a conception of gender that has not generally informed research in the field of second language acquisition, and point to more recent work in the field that theorizes and investigates gender as a construct shaped by historical, cultural, social, and interactional factors.

This study was designed to extend previous research on the relationships among intelligibility, perceived comprehensibility, and accentedness. Accent and comprehensibility ratings and transcriptions of accented speech from Cantonese, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish intermediate ESL students were obtained from 26 native English listeners. The listeners were also asked to identify the first language backgrounds of the same talkers and to provide information on their familiarity with the four accents used in this study. When the results of this study were compared with the Munro and Derwing (1995, Language Learning, 45, 73–97) study of learners of high proficiency, speaker proficiency level did not appear to affect the quasi-independent relationships among intelligibility, perceived comprehensibility, and accentedness; however, the relative contributions of grammatical and phonemic errors and goodness of prosody differed somewhat. Ability to identify the speakers' first languages was influenced by familiarity.

This study examines how two types of word knowledge, word associations and grammatical suffix knowledge, change over time both receptively and productively. Ninety-five secondary and postsecondary Japanese students were tested on three word associations and inflectional and derivational suffixes for each of 20 verbs, once near the beginning of their academic year and once near the end. The results showed their average vocabulary gain was 330 words. The students showed rather poor knowledge of the allowable suffixes for the verbs, especially the derivative suffixes. Likewise, the subjects did not show very good mastery of the verbs' word associations. Even for verbs rated as known, the students as a group were able to produce only about 50% of the word associations possible on the test as judged by native speaker norms. Word association knowledge and suffix knowledge were shown to correlate with each other and with total vocabulary size. The subjects overall had from 19 to 25 percentage points more receptive knowledge than productive knowledge.

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 illustrates the advantages of laboratory research into SLA by describing two studies of acquisition of second language syntax. The first addresses the question of whether human morphological abilities can be understood in terms of associative processes or whether it is necessary to postulate rule-based symbol processing systems underlying these skills. We demonstrate that acquisition of L2 morphology shows frequency effects for both regular and irregular forms and that the acquisition course of learners' accuracy and reaction time can be accurately simulated by connectionist systems. The second concerns a bootstrapping account of SLA whereby processes of chunking in phonological memory underpin the acquisition of long-term memory for utterances and abstractions of grammatical regularities. It shows that phonological short-term memory is particularly important in the acquisition of long-distance dependencies. In both cases, it is argued that these aspects of SLA reflect associative learning processes. When SLA research is properly focused on acquisition, laboratory research allows investigation of the learners' exposure to evidence, their processes of perception and learning, and their resultant language representations.

This paper reports on two studies that addressed the issue of ultimate attainment by late second language learners. The aim of the studies, which included a carefully screened group of highly successful Dutch learners of English in their designs, was to determine whether or not late second language learners who had achieved a nativelike performance in the pronunciation of a second language could be identified. Speech samples provided by two groups of learners, one of which consisted of highly successful learners only, and a native speaker control group were rated for accent by native speakers of English. The ratings obtained by some learners were within the range of the ratings assigned to the native speaker controls. Such results suggest that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological period of time. Examination of the learning histories of the highly successful learners lead the authors to argue that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may work together to override the disadvantages of a late start.

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.

One of the differences between Chinese and English is that the former allows both null subjects in finite sentences and null objects, but the latter allows neither. This cross-linguistic variation is believed to be related to the underspecification of I and topic drop in Chinese but not in English. This paper reports on an empirical study investigating the unlearning of null subjects and null objects by 159 Chinese learners in their L2 acquisition of English. In L1 acquisition, it has been found that English-speaking children display an asymmetry by frequently allowing null subjects but rarely null objects. The results of this study indicate that there is an asymmetry in Chinese learners' L2 English, which, however, is opposite to that found in English L1 acquisition: Chinese learners are able to reject the incorrect null subject in English, but unable to detect the ungrammaticality of the null object. It is proposed that the unlearning of null subjects by Chinese learners of English is triggered by the evidence in their input indicating the specification of AGR(eement) and T(ense) in English, and that the difficulty in the unlearning of null objects is related to the lack of informative evidence to unset the [+ topic-drop] setting in Chinese learners' L2 English.

This article presents a study of corrective feedback and learner uptake (i.e., responses to feedback) in four immersion classrooms at the primary level. Transcripts totaling 18.3 hours of classroom interaction taken from 14 subject-matter lessons and 13 French language arts lessons were analyzed using a model developed for the study and comprising the various moves in an error treatment sequence. Results include the frequency and distribution of the six different feedback types used by the four teachers, in addition to the frequency and distribution of different types of learner uptake following each feedback type. The findings indicate an overwhelming tendency for teachers to use recasts in spite of the latter's ineffectiveness at eliciting student-generated repair. Four other feedback types—elicitation, metalinguistic feedback, clarification requests, and repetition—lead to student-generated repair more successfully and are thus able to initiate what the authors characterize as the negotiation of form.

A consistent finding in second language acquisition research has been that in the early stages of acquisition learners often receive simplified input. This finding has led researchers to question whether or not simplified input has a facilitative effect on the acquisition process. This study examines the effects of simplified input in early L2 acquisition by experimentally manipulating language input to two groups of learners and then assessing their acquisition longitudinally within a controlled laboratory setting. The impetus for the study described here was Givón's (1990) competition hypothesis that posits that, in early L2 acquisition, vocabulary and grammar compete for memory, attention, and processing capacity. Because one can communicate with vocabulary in absence of grammar but not vice versa, it was proposed that learners receiving pidgin input would acquire vocabulary more efficiently than learners challenged with the dual task of acquiring vocabulary and grammar simultaneously. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that once vocabulary processing skills were automated, learners would acquire grammar more rapidly. Results of a variety of measures reveal that the dual task of acquiring vocabulary and grammar does not hinder either and that the longer the exposure to grammatical input the greater the advantage in real-time grammar processing abilities. Converging evidence from all measures of language learning provides strong support for the usefulness and viability of laboratory study of SLA.

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.

In this paper we address the need for replication studies in the field of second language acquisition and discuss the problems surrounding standards of reporting research. A particular focus is on the level of detail necessary for replication to take place. The lack of uniform standards is noted with specific examples of problematic reporting taken from descriptions of second language learners' proficiency levels and measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing research. We propose ways that we believe will lead to more thorough reporting of research and that will therefore allow others to engage in replication.

Three years ago we ushered in a new rubric of SSLA, Replication Studies. We believed—and still do—as did many researchers and consumers of second language and foreign language (S/FL) acquisition research that the problems of reliability and generalizability are best resolved through attempts at replication. We realized that the system of rewards in academe inhibited investment in research that could be viewed as lacking originality. However, we have been gratified by the response from workers in our field who perceived the potential contribution of replication studies and have availed themselves of this new venue.

This study is a fine-grained analysis of extensive empirical data on the automatization of explicitly learned rules of morphosyntax in a second language. Sixty-one subjects were taught four morphosyntactic rules and 32 vocabulary items in an artificial language. After they had reached criterion on a set of metalinguistic tests of grammar and vocabulary, they engaged in systematic, computer-controlled comprehension and production practice for 8 weeks. Comprehension practice consisted of choosing between pictures displayed on the computer screen to match a sentence; production practice consisted of typing the correct sentence corresponding to a picture. All subjects were taught the same rules and then practiced them, and all subjects had the same amount of comprehension and production practice, but which rules were practiced in comprehension and which in production varied between groups. Results show that the learning of morphosyntactic rules is highly skill-specific and that these skills develop very gradually over time, following the same power function learning curve as the acquisition of other cognitive skills. These results are consistent with current skill acquisition theory.

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.

This experimental study examines the extent to which 60 adult Japanese ESL learners were able to acquire a rule regulating the argument structure frames of novel verbs of English after exposure to grammatical examples of sentences containing the verbs. Training took place under conditions with no focus on form (implicit and incidental conditions) and with focus on form (enhanced and instructed conditions). The presentation of instances during training was manipulated as a test of predictions made by Logan's (1988, 1990, 1992) memory-based instance theory of automaticity. Results measured in reaction times show similar slopes for automaticity on trained examples in each condition but significant differences in the extent of learning, with the focus on form conditions outperforming the no focus on form conditions in transfer of learned knowledge to accurate judgments of new ungrammatical sentences. Implications are drawn from the results regarding the acquisition of rule-based versus memory-based knowledge from exposure to stimuli in each training condition and the influence of this knowledge on decision-making about grammaticality during the transfer task.

The book under review follows other research by Biber in the field of register variation (cf. Biber, 1988; Biber & Finegan, 1994). It further develops the thesis that multidmensional analysis of many different linguistic variables can help posit theoretical and conceptual primitives for the analysis of register. It also explores a corollary that the primitive for register variation in different languages can be productively compared.

Many SLA researchers have demonstrated an interest in language pedagogy (LP), yet the relationship between SLA and LP is a problematic one, not so much because of the limitations of SLA itself but because the two disciplines involve different “Discourses” (Gee, 1990). In this paper it is argued that an educational perspective is needed in order to examine how SLA can contribute to LP. Such a perspective suggests ways in which SLA can be appraised in a pedagogically relevant manner and, more importantly, what kinds of applications may be fruitful. It is suggested that relevance is more likely to be achieved if SLA is used to address issues that practitioners nominate as important to them. Different models of application are considered, reflecting different ways of viewing teaching. A behavioral model, according to which teachers implement those behaviors that research has shown to be effective, is rejected. However, SLA can serve as an important source of information that can help to shape practitioners' theories of teaching (a cognitive model). Most importantly, it constitutes a source of “provisional specifications” that practitioners can evaluate in their own contexts of action (an interpretation model). SLA also affords practitioners the means for conducting their own investigations. In short, an educational perspective suggests that for SLA to influence LP, practitioners need assistance in transforming knowledge about L2 acquisition into practice.