Input and Acquisition in Second Language Classrooms

In the speech of a group of francophone ESL learners, we examined introducer forms used to initiate picture descriptions. We then compared the learners' use of these forms to the corresponding forms in the classroom language the learners were exposed to-textbook language, the students' own classroom language, and their teachers' language. We also compared the learners' use of introducers to that of native speakers performing the same task. Some of the non-target-like characteristics of the learners' language were found to correspond to characteristics of the input they received.