Structural analogy is the assumption that structural differences between the levels and planes (levels with different alphabets) of linguistic representation are severely constrained: within the limits imposed by the character of inter-level relationships and by differences in alphabet, we expect the same properties to recur on different levels and planes. The implementation of the case grammar hypothesis (that semantic roles are syntactically basic) is explored here in terms of this assumption; and the hypothesis is shown to interact with other constraints imposed by the structural analogy assumption to provide a restrictive theory of syntactic structure and the lexicon-syntax interface.
Interactionist and Input Theories of Second Language Acquisition
This paper discusses social interaction theory and the interaction hypothesis and how they deal with the significance of interaction in a learning environment which contrasts with the nativist theories of language acquisition like the input hypothesis espoused by Krashen. According to interaction theorists such as Long and Vygotsky, environmental factors play a critical role in second language acquisition.
Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design.
Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
In August 1859 Bernhard Riemann, a little-known 32-year old mathematician, presented a paper to the Berlin Academy titled: "On the Number of Prime Numbers Less Than a Given Quantity." In the middle of that paper, Riemann made an incidental remark - a guess, a hypothesis. What he tossed out to the assembled mathematicians that day has proven to be almost cruelly compelling to countless scholars in the ensuing years. Today, after 150 years of careful research and exhaustive study, the question remains. Is the hypothesis true or false?
The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition: A Critical Look at the Critical Period Hypothesis
Assembles a variety of perspectives on the age factor in second language acquistion through all of which runs the common thread of certain scepticism with regard to absolutist version of the idea that there is a particular maturational stage beyond which language learning is no longer possible.
