A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH
Author(s):
Huebner, Thom
Format:
Book
Publisher:
Ann Arbor, MI : Karoma Publishers, Inc, 1983.
Language:
English
Abstract:
This longitudinal study of the interlang of a single adult learner of English contains 7 Chpts. The Foreword by Derek Bickerton discusses theoretical & empirical issues related to the study, & its place in relation to previous studies of second-lang acquisition. The study emphasizes natural, rather than elicited, data collected over a 1-year period from an adult M Hmong/Lao bilingual speaker with no previous training in Eng, who chose to acquire English without formal instruction. Chpt (1) The Emergence of a Literature on Interlanguage - provides background information on major trends in second-lang acquisition research over the last 35 years. Approaches examined include interference & contrastive analysis, error analysis, order-of-acquisition, & the monitor model. The accuracy of models assuming a step-by-step acquisition process is questioned. (2) The Present Study - outlines the study's goals, including a description of interlang syntax, & describes data collection & analysis procedures. (3) Topics and Topic Prominence in Ge's Interlanguage - outlines the notion of "topic" & a language typology based on that notion. The importance of topics in the informant's early interlang is discussed & three specific aspects of topic prominence are outlined for examination in subsequent Chpts. (4) Is(a) as a Topic Marker - examines use & distribution of this form as a topic-comment boundary marker. (5) The Article da - examines the changing role of the article over time. A binary feature description of referentiality is introduced & applied to the data. (6) Interlanguage Anaphora - discusses the learner's task in acquiring second-lang anaphora in terms of three specific subtasks. (7) Summary and Future Directions for Research - argues for recognition of interlang as a valid object of research. Findings concerning the nature of the informant's interlang grammar are reviewed, & five tentative postulates of second-lang acquisition outlined. 29 Tables, 33 Figures, Appendixes, Bibliog.