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Previous studies of transfer have dealt with its effects on either speaking or writing, whereas the effects on reading and listening have been neglected. In this paper, transfer is examined in relation to the different demands that the four language modalities make on the learner. The main differences between L2 comprehension and L2 production concern the roles played by context and by potential knowledge. Transfer in comprehension is overt transfer, in which some cross‐linguistic similarity has been perceived between L2 input and existing or potential L1‐based knowledge, and which has an overwhelmingly facilitative effect on learning. In production, on the other hand, there is also covert transfer, in which L1‐based forms and procedures are used in the absence of appropriate L2‐based forms or procedures. This means that the relative strength of the positive versus the negative effects of transfer are much more difficult to assess in production. However, because comprehension normally precedes production, transfer in comprehension is at least as important as is transfer in production.

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