This article explores some critical methodological and theoretical issues that emerge from recent research into word association behaviour in second language (L2) learners. The studies that we discuss here all use computer simulations as a tool to investigate L2 lexical networks, and to compare these networks with those of first language (L1)…

Research investigating the relationship between language and cognition (Lucy, 1992b) shows that speakers of languages with grammatical number marking (e.g. English) judge differences in the number of countable objects as more significant than differences in the number or amount of non-countable substances. On the other hand, speakers of languages…

This article addresses the question of how second language (L2) learners understand idiomatic expressions in their second/foreign language and advances the proposition that literal meanings of idiom constituents enjoy processing priority over their figurative interpretations. This suggestion forms the core of the literal-salience resonant model of…

Use of English expressions in Israeli universities is discussed. A study among Israeli psychologists inquiring into the relative weight of variables associated with the use of Hebrew versus non-Hebrew terms is reported. (RM)

A study of the limits of native speakers' awareness of, and ability to express, the dimensions of his language for the researcher investigates this hypothesis: that the ease or difficulty of a native speaker's characterization of the use of the forms of his own language depends on certain general semiotic properties of the use in question.…

Fifteen English-speaking and fifteen French-speaking preschool children were each videotaped during two play sessions, one with a native and one with a non-native peer. Length of verbal utterances toward the non-native listener was significantly lower than toward the native listener, supporting the notion that native speakers adapt the amount of…

A word association test was given in French to 76 girls learning French to determine whether their responses matched those given by native speakers. Three types of responses are possible in such a test: syntagmatic, where one word cues another that usually occurs with it ("bread" elicits "butter"); paradigmatic, which is of the same form class as…

Discusses some of the problems inherent in traditional methods of acquiring data for linguistic analysis, and proposes research methods which involve questionnaires and are designed to eliminate these problems, especially where reliable intuitive data cannot be obtained. (AM)

Considers whether scores on cloze items are generally sensitive to amounts of context in excess of 10 words on either side of them and, if not, when they are sensitive to long-range constraints. Concludes that some are sensitive to constraints that reach beyond 50 words on either side of a blank. (SED)

A study examined a form of other-initiated repair which occurs later than next turn, a form which is produced by nonnative speakers of English whose native language is Mandarin. Data consists of transcriptions of naturally occurring conversations from 12 native speaker-nonnative speaker (NS-NNS) dyads, friends who ordinarily chat. Conversational…

Investigates the concept of politeness as perceived by native speakers and advanced learners of English. Results indicate that the learner's ability to judge politeness in the target language does not necessarily mean s/he can use politeness strategies correctly in actual communication situations. (EKN)

The results of three experiments investigating where native speakers have a morpheme boundary between stems and word-final English derivational suffixes are reported. The way speakers organize phonological data is demonstrated. The results challenge the generative phonological hypothesis of maximal generalization and assumptions concerning…

Indicates that native and nonnative speakers alike can make use of intonation if they explicitly listen for it, although prosodic features are generally ignored when other cues (semantic and pragmatic) are available. (Author/RL)

Argues that Firth and Wagner are justified in arguing that a broader, context-sensitive, participant-sensitive, generally sociolinguistic orientation might prove beneficial for second language acquisition research. Demonstrates a skepticism as to whether greater insights into second language learning will necessarily influence the process. (13…

Investigated judgments native speakers of German make about the decomposability of English idioms. Findings were analyzed and compared to native judgments. Introduces the Model of Dual Idiom Representation to explain the differences between the two groups. (Author/VWL)