Interjections in second language acquisition

In research on second language acquisition, units of spoken language such as interjections have for the most part not been taken into account. The reason for this neglect is primarily the strong emphasis given to syntax in the analysis of the process of second language acquisition. In foreign language teaching, a similar phenomenon is evident, despite the growing acknowledgement of the importance of communicative competence as a learning goal. The present article investigates the reasons for this lack of research and discusses some approaches to the acquisition of interjections. On this basis, suggestions are made for future research. Didactic proposals for dealing with interjections in foreign language instruction are developed on the basis of a case study of teaching materials for German as a Foreign Language.