Skip Navigation

Applied Linguistics 1994 15(4):442-473; doi:10.1093/applin/15.4.442
© 1994 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MELLOW, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by CUMMING, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Articles

Concord in Interlanguage: Efficiency or Priming?

J. DEAN MELLOW and ALISTER CUMMING

University of South Carolina
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Three positions on the acquisition of grammatical concord in second languages have been articulated in previous research, all advocating versions of an efficiency argument—that learners delete redundant elements such as plural morphemes either because of processing, developmental, or situational constraints. The present paper proposes an alternative but potentially complementary view, that priming effects may facilitate language learners' use of concorded grammatical morphemes, particularly in tasks like written composition where language processing and attentional resources can readily be controlled. Results supporting this hypothesis are presented from analyses of 114 compositions written by French and Japanese background learners of English. Relations between efficiency and priming factors in learners' language are discussed in reference to differing task demands for input, output, and interactive language processing, as well as influences of mother tongue, proficiency in the second language, personal and social orientations, and instruction.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Second Language ResearchHome page
J. D. Mellow
Connectionism, HPSG signs and SLA representations: specifying principles of mapping between form and function
Second Language Research, April 1, 2004; 20(2): 131 - 165.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Second Language ResearchHome page
J. D. Mellow
On the primacy of theory in applied studies: a critique of Pienemann and Johnston (1987)
Second Language Research, July 1, 1996; 12(3): 304 - 318.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.