Acquisition of English Structures: A Case Study of an Adult Native Speaker of Arabic in an English‐speaking Environment

Little is known about second language acquisition by adults in a natural (non‐classroom) setting. The longitudinal case study reported in this paper provides some information about the early stages through which the adult subject of this study progressed in acquiring English and about the factors affecting her language development. Comparison with the developmental sequence in first language acquisition reveals a striking similarity. This suggests a similarity in underlying processes of adult and child learning. The differences in rate of acquisition may be accounted for in terms of exposure, need, and factors inhibiting practice.