ABSTRACT
The title of this chapter, “As Learners Acquire Language,” was assigned in these words by the editors. At fi rst glance, their wording may seem just an unusual way of expressing a focus on the learners who are both agents and benefi ciaries of the life-long process of language acquisition. What makes the title unusual is the fact that its form is a dependent clause that begs the question of “So what else is happening? What else is being acquired along with language?” An answer would normally be supplied by the immediately following main clause; instead, supplying it is the topic of this chapter.
