Theo Bongaerts

Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language?

Two picture-word interference experiments were conducted to investigate whether or not words from a first and more dominant language are activated during lexical access in a foreign and less dominant language. Native speakers of Dutch were instructed to name pictures in their foreign language English. Our experiments show that the Dutch name of a picture is activated during initial stages of the process of lexical in English as a foreign language. We conclude that bilingual speakers cannot suppress activation from their first language while naming pictures in a foreign language. The implications for bilingual speech production theories are discussed.

Age and Ultimate Attainment in the Pronunciation of a Foreign Language.

This paper reports on two studies that addressed the issue of ultimate attainment by late second language learners. The aim of the studies, which included a carefully screened group of highly successful Dutch learners of English in their designs, was to determine whether or not late second language learners who had achieved a nativelike performance in the pronunciation of a second language could be identified. Speech samples provided by two groups of learners, one of which consisted of highly successful learners only, and a native speaker control group were rated for accent by native speakers of English. The ratings obtained by some learners were within the range of the ratings assigned to the native speaker controls. Such results suggest that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological period of time. Examination of the learning histories of the highly successful learners lead the authors to argue that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may work together to override the disadvantages of a late start.

Authenticity of pronunciation in naturalistic second language acquisition: The case of very advanced late learners of Dutch as a second language

The article reports on the fourth study in a series of four designed to test the prediction that a nativelike accent is unattainable for those who start to acquire an SL after the close of the critical period. Sentences read out by late learners, who acquired Dutch in an immersion setting, were rated for accent by native speakers of Dutch. The results from this study, in combination with those from three previous studies, suggest that, in spite of the claims of the critical period hypothesis, late learners can achieve a nativelike accent in an SL, and that a combination of input, motivational, and instructional factors may compensate for the neurological disadvantages of a late start.

Report--COMOLA: A Computer System for the Analysis of Interlanguage Data.

In a recent contribution to Second Language Research, Pienemann (1992) described a computational system for the analysis of interlanguage data, termed COALA. In this report we will introduce another computer system for the analysis of L2 acquisition data, which has been developed independently. This system we have named COMOLA. This report contains: (1) a description of the COMOLA system, followed by an illustration of the type and scope of analyses yielded by COMOLA; (2) a brief description of COALA; and (3) a comparison of COMOLA and COALA pointing out the major differences between the two systems.

Perspectives on foreign-language policy : studies in honour of Theo van Els

1. Preface 2. Foreign-Language Teaching Policy in the Netherlands 1800-1970: A Historical Outline (by Wilhelm, Frans) 3. The Task Force of the Dutch National Action Programme as an Instrument for Developing and Implementing Foreign-Language Policy (by Tuin, Dirk) 4. NAP as a Basis for a Coherent FLT Policy (by Renique, A.J.E.G.) 5. The Difficulty of Spanish for Dutch Learners (by Oud-de Glas, Maria) 6. Changing Target - Changing Tests (by Melse, Leijn) 7. Horizon Taal and Language Planning in the United States (by Lambert, Richard D.) 8. Developing a Language-Competent American Society: Implications of the English-Only Movement (by Tucker, G. Richard) 9. Planning Foreign-Language Education: An Israeli Perspective (by Spolsky, Bernard) 10. Implementation of Foreign-Language Policy in Finland (by Sajavaara, Kari) 11. Foreign-Language Policy form the Grass Roots (by Christ, Herbert) 12. Multilingualism in the Netherlands? (by Bot, Kees de) 13. Minority Groups and Minority Languages in the Netherlands: Empirical Facts and Educational Policy (by Broeder, Peter) 14. From Mother Tongue to Foreign Language: Prospects for Minority-Language Education in the Netherlands (by Driessen, Geert W.J.M.) 15. Adult Second-Language Policy in the Netherlands: Some Considerations (by Janssen-van Dieten, Anne-Mieke) 16. Index