Recent research in second language acquisition found that learners reached higher levels of achievement when grammar practice included the processing and negotiation of meaning. This study explored the degree to which certain textbook activities reflected the earlier findings. A typology of production activities — based on the degree to which the activities required learners to process meaning — was established. The activities for two grammar points from selected Italian elementary language textbooks were classified according to this typology, ultimately demonstrating that Italian texts still rely heavily on traditional, mechanical activities to practice certain structures. The study produced a typology of activities and an assessment procedure that can be used to determine how well foreign language textbook activities have kept pace with research in second language acquisition.
Analyses of suppletive verb conjugations have focused on aspect or tense divisions, type and token frequency, and lexicalization of individual forms at an earlier stage of the language. In this paper, I attempt to show that person-number suppletive replacements follow language-specific alternation patterns, or templates, which mark the positions of stem alternations often shared by several verbs. These paradigmatic frameworks are stored in the lexicon with their verb forms and guide verbal restructuring processes by serving as the base configuration for suppletive replacements. The relative strength of a pattern is directly related to the number of verbs associated with it such that the most productive template is represented by completely rule-driven patterns, the template of lowest productivity encompasses only one verb, and all intermediate stages of productivity are represented by templates shared by various numbers of verbs. As verbs acquire new alternations, the shift is consistently to more productive templates. Moreover, since Italian andare, French aller, and Spanish ir have patterns of paradigmatic alternations that are shared by other verbs, in this model they cannot be considered as isolated idiosyncrasies in their verbal systems.The extreme irregularity of suppletive verbs, or verbs whose paradigms include etymologically unrelated forms, poses a challenge for theories of morphology that offer neat explanations for systematic morphological alternations. Each model takes a different approach, ranging from categorizing suppletive elements as "marginal garbage" (Lass 1990: 82) or as completely unnatural (natural morphology), to envisioning the occurrence of suppletive forms as a natural result of phonological change (morphological economy). 1 However, it is generally agreed that elements
There is a growing body of research indicating that mechanical drills do not facilitate the development of explicit or implicit knowledge. This study identifies the inadequate aspects of mechanical drills and offers alternative activities for the early stages of language practice, whose formats and features comply with recent research in the learning and acquisition of foreign languages. Wong and VanPatten's (2003) referential structured input activities are suggested as substitutes to practice grammatical features that contribute meaningfully to the utterance. However, for allophonic or allomorphic alternations that are governed by the phonetic, stress, or grammatical context and that do not convey meaning, a new type of activity (form‐form activities) is introduced, which promotes noticing by directing learners to actively operationalize their understanding of grammatical rules. Production activities for the later stages of practice are briefly discussed, and this study concludes with advice for instructors regarding their expectations of students' performance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.