Prosody is crucial for language comprehension because it highlights underlying structures. This study explores whether prosody facilitates memory recall to the same extent in L1 and L2, and whether memory recall is poorer in L2 or whether language-specific differences can mitigate L2 processing difficulties. Nineteen Greek learners of English, and a monolingual English baseline, repeated three-digit chunks with and without prosodic cues in L1 and L2. Prosody was a major facilitator of memory recall only in L1 despite the high proficiency of learners. This indicates that L2 mastery of prosody perception is hard to attain, mirroring production studies. However, when prosodic boundary cues were absent, memory recall in L2 was comparable to L1. This demonstrates that language-specific differences can attenuate more general processing difficulties in L2. This study is the first to demonstrate differences in prosodic processing in L1 and L2 resulting in poorer memory recall in L2.

The study investigates how psychological and social factors relate to productive collocation knowledge in late L2 learners of Swedish (French L1) (N = 59). The individual factors are language aptitude (measured through the LLAMA aptitude test), reported language use, social networks, acculturation, and personality. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that positive effects were found for LLAMA D (phonetic memory), LLAMA E (sound-symbol correspondence), reported language use, and length of residence (LOR). Furthermore, a negative effect was found for the personality variable Open-mindedness. These variables explained 63% (adjusted R²) of the variance, which represents large effects compared to other studies on individual factors. In sum, the findings confirm earlier results on the importance of language aptitude and language use for productive collocation knowledge. They also add evidence of the importance of personality and LOR. In sum, cognitive and social factors combine to explain different outcomes in adult L2 acquisition.

In their search for more solid theoretical underpinnings applied linguists are turning increasingly toward the burgeoning field of pidgin and Creole linguistics (Schumann 1975). This attraction stems from recent changes in orientation in these two domains of linguistics that have led to a shared interest in the psychological processes underlying language acquisition. Abandoning their primary concern for the nature of the input data provided to the second language learner, applied linguistics are paying more attention to the nature of the psychological structures and processes that determine what type of data the learner will “take in” and that guide him in the transformation of the intake into his version of the target language. The focus on the learner's language processing mechanisms is evidenced by the favor enjoyed currently by the branch of applied linguistics labelled -- quite inappropriately -- error analysis. At the same time, creolists are looking at pidgin and creole languages from a different standpoint. They are less concerned with the problems that these languages pose to genetic classifications of languages or with the historical filiation among extant pidgins and Creoles. They believe that because of the very fact that these languages, particularly pidgins, assume limited communicative functions in speech communities they are more likely to provide insights on the nature of language acquisition and on the relationships between linguistic structure and the communicative setting.

The data presented in this paper were gathered using a French cloze test in the context of a longitudinal evaluation of a number of French immersion programs in Ontario conducted by the Bilingual Education Project of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (see, for example, Barik and Swain 1978(a), 1978(b); Swain and Barik 1976; Swain and Lapkin 1977). One of the major research questions to which these studies have been addressed concerns the degree of second language proficiency attained by the immersion students: how much French is acquired by English-speaking students in these bilingual programs compared to that acquired by students in a regular program taking 20 to 40 minutes daily of core French or conventional French as a second language training? Through the use of standardized French achievement tests and other French measures developed by the Bilingual Education Project (e.g. Barik 1975, 1976; Barik, Swain, and Schloss 1978), it was determined early in the longitudinal study of early French immersion that immersion pupils were attaining a level of second language proficiency far superior to that of the comparison pupils taking core French. It became clear that a more appropriate reference group for measuring French language proficiency would consist of native French-speaking pupils of the same age and grade level. In other words, a shift of emphasis in the original research question has occurred over the past several years so that now the focus is on the degree to which immersion students can attain native-like ability in the second language (Lapkin 1978).

In this article the foreign language classroom is argued to be a legitimate and important arena for educational and linguistic research. First, a survey of the research which has been conducted in France on the analysis of the foreign language classroom is presented. Secondly, two research projects currently underway at the University of Paris VIII are discussed. The first looks at the foreign language classroom through diary studies, and the second, through classroom analysis by teachers and pupils.

Due to the recognition of the centrality of the lexicon for SLA theory (see the 1987 thematic issue of SSLA, edited by Susan Gass), the last few years have witnessed an increased interest in understanding lexical knowledge. As Gass (1999) reminded us, learning vocabulary in a second language is a complex task that involves much more than learning sound-meaning pairings; it also involves learning how lexical information is morphologically expressed and syntactically constrained. The present issue provides a natural sequel to the 1999 SSLA thematic issue, “Incidental L2 Vocabulary Acquisition,” by addressing some of the questions raised in that volume, in particular the questions related to the intimate relationship between syntax and semantics at the lexical interface. This issue is devoted to the L2 acquisition of verb meaning and argument structure crosslinguistically, and it explores in detail the nature of linguistic systems that L2 learners acquire in this particular domain. The six central articles offer a coherent approach to the topic, using linguistic theory to help us understand the characteristics of learner grammars. Until recently, linguistic approaches to SLA have placed a strong emphasis on understanding the acquisition of functional categories, for example, and the acquisition of the lexicon has received less attention. Understanding how the lexico-syntactic interface is mentally represented, and how it evolves during the second language acquisition process, is crucial for developing an adequate theory of L2 knowledge in general, as well as for informing theories of the lexicon.

OPTIMALITY THEORY: CONSTRAINT INTERACTION IN GENERATIVE GRAMMAR. Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004. Pp. xi + 289. $69.95 cloth, $39.95 paper.

This book is very similar to the manuscript (written by the same authors and bearing the same title) that has been circulating among phonologists since 1993. As mentioned by the authors in the preface, “those familiar with an earlier version of the text will not find new notions and notations here” (p. ix). For this reason, the 2004 publication date may seem anachronistic, as it does not reflect the state of Optimality Theory (OT) in 2004, but rather in 1993. The most notable difference between the two versions of this text is the disappearance of two sections (on variable rules and stochastic grammars and on declarative phonology) that were to be added in the manuscript form.

The Elicited Imitation Task (EIT) is a popular technique for efficiently measuring global proficiency in multiple languages, and accumulated evidence indicates high reliability and strong relationships with other proficiency measures. Nevertheless, several dimensions of EIT design remain open to investigation, including the assumption that a pause is required in between the aural stimulus and oral response, to ensure processing of the input and prevent so-called parroting. This study investigated the relationship between three poststimulus pause conditions, learners’ proficiency and working memory, and their EIT scores as well as their perceptions of task difficulty, mental effort, focus, and interest. Findings indicated no differences in performances or perceptions between the 0-second pause, 2-second pause, and 5-second pause conditions, and a weak relationship between EIT performance and working memory. Across all conditions, the EIT distinguished consistently among proficiency levels, correlated strongly with a criterion proficiency measure, and produced remarkably reliable scores.

The use of the Spanish pronouns of address tú and usted is an intricate matter for L2 learners due to the many factors that influence their selection at the discourse and interactional level. Although the literature has traditionally focused on the challenges experienced by L1-English learners of L2-Spanish in learning these forms, less is known about speakers whose L1s also present similar (but not identical) pronouns of address. This study thus analyzes the use of tú and usted by L1-French and L1-European Portuguese learners who learn Spanish either in their home countries (i.e., France and Portugal) or in Spain as part of a study-abroad experience. Results indicate that learners in both L1 groups used tú more often while in Spain than in their home country. Additionally, students in immersion started adopting more similar criteria to those of L1-Spanish speakers in determining whether tú or usted would be appropriate in certain contexts.

INVISIBLE WORK: BILINGUALISM, LANGUAGE CHOICE, AND CHILDREARING IN INTERMARRIED FAMILIES. Toshie Okita. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2002. Pp. vi + 274. $102.00 cloth.

In recent years, studies of bilingualism and SLA have paid increasing attention to the contexts in which languages are acquired and used. This broadened perspective has led scholars to combine insights from a number of different disciplines. In this highly original study, Okita combines insights from studies of families, ethnicity, and bilingualism to examine the factors that promote or inhibit Japanese maintenance by the children of British fathers and Japanese mothers living in Britain. The result is a finely nuanced study that illustrates the difficulties of maintaining a minority language in a setting that provides few sources of institutional support.