The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics

In this book, Alan Davies considers whether it is possible to become a native speaker of a language which is not your mother tongue and attempts an explanation of what it means to be a native speaker. He shows how applied linguistics constantly refer to "the native speaker" and "the mother tongue" yet no real definition of either has been decided upon. Disagreeing with Chomsky's universalist view of language and his declaration that "the difference between 'native' and 'non-native' is just pointless", Davies argues that there is a noticeable difference between the two. He concludes that although this disparity can affect second-language learning, it does not stop it being possible for a non-native speaker to become a native speaker.