This study critically examines the widespread practice of comparing the linguistic processes and representations of non-native speakers with those of natives. We argue that, in some respects, the method yields benefits, while in others it does not serve the interests of research into the nature of second language acquisition and bilingualism. We go on to consider certain analytical approaches that skirt the hazards of the method. The potential payoffs of native/non-native comparisons are illustrated in a priming study of monolingual and bilingual processing of ambiguity in complex French syntax (Gertken 2013).
2025. Swiss-German Additive Focus Particle auch in bi-/multilingual Speakers: The Role of Language Typology, Language Dominance and Proficiency. Journal of the European Second Language Association 9:1 ► pp. 85 ff.
Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L. & Brian MacWhinney
2023. Age effects in second language acquisition: Expanding the emergentist account. Brain and Language 241 ► pp. 105269 ff.
Diaubalick, Tim & Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes
2023. Consequences of the comparative fallacy for the acquisition of grammatical aspect in Spanish. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 61:4 ► pp. 1301 ff.
Regan, Brendan
2023. Individual differences in the acquisition of language-specific and dialect-specific allophones of intervocalic /d/ by L2 and heritage Spanish speakers studying abroad in Sevilla. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 45:1 ► pp. 65 ff.
Ayoun, Dalila
2022. Indeterminacy in L1 French grammars: the case of gender and number agreement. Journal of French Language Studies 32:3 ► pp. 327 ff.
Li, Wei & Joshua K. Hartshorne
2022. Even Simultaneous Bilinguals Do Not Reach Monolingual Levels of Proficiency in Syntax. Languages 7:4 ► pp. 293 ff.
2021. Age of acquisition – not bilingualism – is the primary determinant of less than nativelike L2 ultimate attainment. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
Gudmestad, Aarnes, Amanda Edmonds & Thomas Metzger
2021. Moving Beyond the Native-Speaker Bias in the Analysis of Variable Gender Marking. Frontiers in Communication 6
Shadrova, Anna, Pia Linscheid, Julia Lukassek, Anke Lüdeling & Sarah Schneider
2021. A Challenge for Contrastive L1/L2 Corpus Studies: Large Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation Across Morphological, but Not Global Syntactic Categories in Task-Based Corpus Data of a Homogeneous L1 German Group. Frontiers in Psychology 12
Abrams, Zsuzsanna I.
2020. Intercultural Communication and Language Pedagogy,
Berghoff, Robyn
2020. The processing of object–subject ambiguities in early second-language acquirers. Applied Psycholinguistics 41:4 ► pp. 963 ff.
Diaubalick, Tim, Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes & Katrin Schmitz
2020. Tense and Aspect in Spanish Heritage Speakers Living in Germany. In New Trends in Language Acquisition Within the Generative Perspective [Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, 49], ► pp. 49 ff.
Sequeros-Valle, Jose, Bradley Hoot & Jennifer Cabrelli
2020. Clitic-doubled left dislocation in L2 Spanish: The effect of processing load at the syntax-discourse interface. Language Acquisition 27:3 ► pp. 306 ff.
Vanhove, Jan
2020. When labeling L2 users as nativelike or not, consider classification errors. Second Language Research 36:4 ► pp. 709 ff.
2019. Influence of L2 English phonotactics in L1 Brazilian Portuguese illusory vowel perception. Journal of Phonetics 73 ► pp. 55 ff.
Hulstijn, Jan H.
2019. An Individual‐Differences Framework for Comparing Nonnative With Native Speakers: Perspectives From BLC Theory. Language Learning 69:S1 ► pp. 157 ff.
Amengual, Mark
2018. Asymmetrical interlingual influence in the production of Spanish and English laterals as a result of competing activation in bilingual language processing. Journal of Phonetics 69 ► pp. 12 ff.
Archibald, John
2018. Advanced‐Level L2 Phonology. In The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition, ► pp. 239 ff.
2023. Whither Bilinguals, Natives, and Variability? A Commentary on “The Neurocognitive Underpinnings of Second Language Processing: Knowledge Gains From the Past and Future Outlook”. Language Learning 73:S2 ► pp. 147 ff.
Birdsong, David
2025. Age and Second Language Attainment. In Reference Module in Social Sciences,
Clahsen, Harald & Claudia Felser
2018. SOME NOTES ON THE SHALLOW STRUCTURE HYPOTHESIS. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 40:3 ► pp. 693 ff.
Hartshorne, Joshua K., Joshua B. Tenenbaum & Steven Pinker
2018. A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers. Cognition 177 ► pp. 263 ff.
2016. Multi-competence in second language acquisition: inroads into the mainstream?. In The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-Competence, ► pp. 50 ff.
Cook, Vivian
2015. Discussing the Language and Thought of Motion in Second Language Speakers. The Modern Language Journal 99:S1 ► pp. 154 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.
