Adult Language Acquisition: Volume 2, The Results
Cross-Linguistic Perspectives

Volume 2 of this two-volume publication summarises the cross-linguistic results of an international research project on second language acquisition.

Clive Perdue (Edited by)

9780521417099, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 August 1993

300 pages, 20 tables
23.5 x 16 x 3 cm, 0.615 kg

"All in all, this was clearly a valuable project whose results will be referred to widely. The two volumes will be of particular interest to acquisition researchers working within a functional framework." Canadian Journal of Linguistics

These two volumes present the methodology and results of an international research project on second language acquisition by adult immigrants. This project went beyond other studies in at least three respects: in the number of languages studied simultaneously; in the organisation of co-ordinated longitudinal studies in different linguistic environments; and in the type and range of linguistic phenomena investigated. It placed the study of second languages and inter-ethnic discourse on a firm empirical footing. Volume 1 explains and evaluates the research design adopted for the project. Volume 2 summarises the cross-linguistic results, under two main headings: native/non-native speaker interaction, and language production. Together they present the reader with a complete research procedure, and in doing so, make explicit the links between research questions, methodology, and results.

Part I. Production: 1. Utterance structure
2. Word-formation processes
3. The acquisition of temporality
4. Reference to space in learne varieties
Part II. 5. Ways of achieving understanding
6. Feedback in second language acquisition
Part III. 7. Adult language acquisition
8. Conclusion: learner varieties and theoretical linguistics.

Subject Areas: Language acquisition [CFDC]