The picture below was used by SLA researchers to collect spoken data from both native and non-native speakers.

1. First of all, compare an English native speaker's description of the picture and a non-native speaker's description.
   
   English native speaker
   OK, there's a kind of fat old woman with a bun on (ah) on her head, like towards the back of her neck, and she has a hat on her head and she's got a checkered skirt on with some tennis shoes and she's holding a leash to a dog who's barking at a bald man with a moustache and a big nose who's wearing a bowtie and he's got a black umbrella in his hand and the dog ...I don't know, it's kind of like one of those big dogs, like, kind of, like a greyhound, maybe, I don't know. And he's got, looks like a, not really a saddle, but maybe a sweater or something on that's got all these checkers, it's just on his back. And he's got a black collar around his neck and ... the people's eyes are just circles, they don't really have any pupils. And the man has a suit coat on, a jacket type thing. And the woman's got her mouth open and the man's mouth is shut.
   
   English non-native speaker (L1 French)
   Um. I see a man, a dog, and an no I see a woman, a dog and another man. And ... the man uh look like Scottish man uhh ... and uh (that is) and similarly between two mens um the dog um want to bite the a-another man. Um.. The second man uhh has that an umbrella. And um ... the woman is um as toward as the man. The woman is speaking; the man don't speak. Um ... The ... the dog is between the woman and the man. Ahh he look, it it look uh angry. About the man. Um. I think the man don't appreciate the dog. Um. I don't know if this woman know this man. Um Perhaps they want to talk, but they have problem with this dog. Because this dog is not quiet. And.. I'll stop.
   
   
2. Now, study the transcriptions of anglophone speakers' descriptions in either French, German or Spanish. What features of these recordings mark them out, in your view, as being produced by non-native speakers?
   
   L2 French
   Il y a une grande femme avec un chien. La femme porte un chapeau, une robe et chaussures, je pense que la femme est vieux aussi. Son chien est fâché et son chien ouvre son bouche. Il y a aussi un homme, un homme avait peur du chien, et le homme porte une ....
   
   L2 German
   Wir haben eine picture mit zwei Leute und eine Hund und die Frau hast eine Hund mit eine, uh fehlen dieses, ich weiss nich dieses und der Hund ist (laughter) nah dem Mann. Und der Mann hat einen ... on ... ich was .. ist der Mann hat. Der Mann sind in der nahe der Hund und der Hund, oh jé, ich weiss nicht dieses. Von der links ist eine Frau und die Frau hat einen Hut und nicht in Seite, in Mitte ist einen Hund und rechts ist einen Mann. Und das ist alles, ich kann nicht sehen alles.
   
   L2 Spanish
   Pués, hay una mujer con el perro y hay otra hombre ... ummm .... La mujer lleva .. una sombrera umm una chaqueta y falda ... zapatos... El pelo de la mujer umm es lacio ... El perro umm está gritando al hombre. Y el perro lleva algo, pero yo no se qué es ... el hombre tiene una corbata pero no es larga; es ... umm ... es .. muy corto, es un bowtie, y está trayendo una umm no recuerdo la palabra, pero umm es para ... para la lluvia .. para no sacar la lluvia y umm el hombre no tiene pantalones: es muy extrano, no? No tiene zapatos también y umm el perro no le gusta al hombre, en mi opinion. Y ... um la mujer tiene un umm leash ... no se la palabra en espanol, pero umm el perro es suya no y suyo y ... La mujer parecía como ella está diciendo algo pero no se ... Bueno es todo.

(Reproduced from Sorace et al, 1994)