ABSTRACT
Functionalist approaches to language hold that language is primarily used for communication and does not exist without language users. Functionalism views language in terms of form-to-function and function-to-form mappings. Functional approaches to second language acquisition investigate such mappings in interlanguage and are especially interested in how these change over time in the developing interlanguage system. Functionalist approaches to linguistics in general and to second language acquisition in particular are not common in North America, and readers might find the functionalist emphasis on meaning and function to be both exciting and unfamiliar.
