On the use of miniature artificial languages in second-language research

In this article the hypothesis is advanced that the learning of a miniature artificial language (MAL) is second-language (L2) learning writ small. Recent research from MAL experiments is reviewed which, if the hypothesis is correct, throws light on inductive L2 learning, suggesting that in the “creative construction” process both “implicit” learning and analogic generalization are possible strategies. The argument is made that MAL experiments are heuristically valuable for L2 research and that more creative use of MAL methods can have pedagogical implications, since teaching, like MAL research, involves systematic manipulation of input.