Interest in the application of modern linguistic theory in composition research has faded, possibly because some of the basic principles that inform linguistic study have been misunderstood. For example, a common misconception is that linguists use the term "generate" to mean "produce." However, the purpose of a generative…

During the 1980s, there has been some movement toward a return to grammar in the applied linguistics of language teaching, as seen in the number of grammar-based English-as-a-Second-Language textbooks published and in the grammatical emphasis of certain successful textbooks. However justifiable this is as a reaction to the move away from grammar…

Translation may be compared to a cable composed of many simultaneous strands of transfer. In translation, there is replacement which involves general hierarchical organization, grammatical constructions and constituents, mapping of deep onto surface structures, classes, ordering, lexicon, phonology, concordance, points of ambiguity, and…

This paper attempts to "bridge the gap between the practical orientation of teachers and the theoretical concerns that should underlie practice," Discussed in turn are language, psychology, and pedagogical philosophy. An adequate knowledge of these areas is essential to good classroom practices; every bad practice is evidence of some weakness in…

Considers the question of how much psycholinguistics can contribute to foreign language teaching. Transformational grammar as well as behaviorist, psychobiological and development-psychological approaches are considered. These various psycholinguistic directions are sketched and examined for their applicability to foreign language teaching. (Text…

A study of English as a second language students' generalization of second-language learning showed that maximal generalization of learning took place from structures that were typologically more marked to those structures that were typologically less marked, and not the reverse. (Author/CB)

A discussion of the relevance of applied linguistics to language teaching looks at recent developments in the field, the relationship of theory and practice in language teaching and learning, common perceptions of applied linguistics' relationship to language instruction, and linguistics' role in finding solutions in the classroom. (MSE)

This article provides an inventory of works in applied linguistics published in Switzerland during the last fifteen years, and concludes that the limited amount of research in the field is due to the secondary position allotted to general linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics in Swiss universities. (Text is in…

Compares the theories of Chomsky and Fillmore. By representing "case" as a feature of lexical items, the deep/surface distinction can be eliminated, and the resulting "lexicase" framework looks promising as a basis for the design of language teaching materials. (Author/RM)

The language aquisition device (LAD) as hypothesized in the writings of Noam Chomsky is analyzed in terms of its applicability to second language learning (L2). (RL)

Special issue devoted to linguistics in teacher preparation and higher education. (VM)

Paper presented February 28, 1972, at the TESOL Convention in Washington, D.C. (VM)