ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I consider a perspective on L2 proficiency grounded in an integrationalist rather than a segregationalist approach to language analysis. The consequences of the different perspectives are profound with regard to our understanding of human communication, in particular with regard to L2 proficiency and its assessment. The integrationalist orientation is represented in the writings of Roy Harris and his colleagues, while the segregationalist approach (Harris, 1998a) is represented in the work of structuralist theories of language beginning with Saussure (1959), extending to Bloomfield (1993) and eventually to Chomsky (1965). 1
