Rationale and Design

Abstract

Chapter 2 concluded that neither a Contrastive Analysis (CA) nor a Creative Construction (CC) theory adequately explains the L2 acquisition task. Each captures the sense of an important component of this learning process but neither provides a full account of it. Thus, if one were to investigate empirically, for example, the L2 acquisition of anaphora in complex sentence formations by two groups of language learners whose L1s were varied along some structural parameter, it is unlikely that either a CA or a CC theory would fully determine the results. Each theory might account for some aspect of the findings, but neither would provide an explanation for the complete set.