Abstract

This article discusses theoretical approaches to language acquisition and language teaching and focuses on recurring themes in these approaches and how they have developed over time. The first section provides a historical overview of the history of language acquisition. The second [...]

Abstract

This article provides a sociocultural perspective of language acquisition that focuses on the relationship between the child and the environment in which language is acquired. This relationship is revealed in children’s monologues and dialogues. By analyzing these types of speech, [...]

Abstract

This article reflects upon new observations and old concepts related to the acquisition of syntax by examining the strengths and weaknesses of research in acquisitional syntax. Two of the strengths are the interdisciplinary nature of child acquisitional studies and the potential dialogue [...]

Abstract

This article offers an overview of research in sign language acquisition by children, mostly in American Sign Language. The results indicate that the developmental milestones and the linguistic errors made by children acquiring a sign language coincide with those observed in hearing [...]

Abstract

This article applies grammaticalization theory to the process of acquisition of past morphology (perfective and imperfective) by learners of Catalan as a foreign language. It argues that diachronic and acquisitional grammaticalization show clear parallels in the evolution of past [...]

Abstract

This article presents a descriptive study about the role of transfer in the second language acquisition of Catalan by immigrant learners. The analysis focuses on errors of verbal morphology produced by six learners of Catalan as a second language whose first languages were Arabic, [...]