The present paper gives a general introduction to the linear logistic test model (Fischer, 1973), an extension of the Rasch model with linear constraints on item parameters, along with eRm (an R package to estimate different types of Rasch models; Mair, Hatzinger, & Mair, 2014) functions to estimate the model and interpret its parameters. The…

A main objective in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is to enable students to communicate effectively in many situations and contexts. This involves being able to control a wide range of language functions, which are how speakers use language for requesting, congratulating, apologizing, complaining, consoling, and promising, among many…

Discusses the theoretical premises of two experiments in early second language teaching undertaken in Sweden, the first labelled "English without a book", the second, "English in the preparatory school". Analyzes results from the first experiment which led to the decision to begin English instruction as early as grade three.…

This paper provides an Optimality Theoretic account of how Hungarian learners of English acquire /[epsilon]/ and /[ash]/. It is hypothesized that as the learners' pronunciation becomes more nativelike, L1 transfer substitutions will diminish; non-transfer substitutions will be especially prevalent in the intermediate stages, and that all learners…

The main assumption in this article is that the pragmatics of the variety of South African English commonly referred to as black South African English (BSAE) have been shaped, over time, by educated bilinguals, through a transfer of features from African languages. Transfer of syntactic forms, now firmly established in the variety, is evidenced…

Examines four factors in the operation of formal schemata in the recall of written narrative texts in English by students in Hong Kong: quantity of recall; temporal sequence of recall from story-schematic and input versions of stories; the effects of second language proficiency level on quantity of recall; and the quality of recall. (31…

Explores whether pragmatic fluency is best acquired by provision of input and opportunity for communicative practice alone, or whether learners profit more with additional explicit instruction in the use of conversational routines. The article hypothesized that such instruction raises learners' awareness of the functions and contextual…

This journal highlights five papers by international authors on various topics in education. In the first article, it was hypothesized deductively that extroverts will show more fluctuations in attending than introverts and that individuals with high neuroticism show more fluctuations in attention span than less neurotic persons. The second…