Recognizing the specific speech act ( Searle, 1969) that a speaker performs with an utterance is a fundamental feature of pragmatic competence. Past research has demonstrated that native speakers of English automatically recognize speech acts when they comprehend utterances (Holtgraves & Ashley, 2001). The present research examined whether this…

Reviews two studies of the relationship between gender loading in languages and the perception of gender by speakers of those languages; the two studies reach contradictory conclusions. Examines a number of theoretical and methodological issues in linguistic relativity research and suggests avenues for further research. (SED)

Investigates the drawing of two types of inferences in English as a second language--presuppositions and implications--from English sentences containing factive and implicative predicates. Results show (1) better comprehension of implied meaning over presupposed meaning, (2) better performance on semantically positive predicative then on…

Contrasts two definitions of communication strategies: the interactional definition in which the central function is the negotiation of meaning, and the psycholinguistic definition in which communication strategies are related to individual language users' experience of communicative problems and the solutions they pursue. (EKN)

Proposes a research agenda that makes acquisitional research central to the study of comprehensible output (CO). Looks at the context in which the CO hypothesis was proposed--that of looking beyond comprehensible input as a condition for second language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Responds to comments made regarding an earlier article written by the author on processing instruction in second language learning. (Author/VWL)

Examination of differences in the language-learning strategies of monolingual and multilingual adults found no clear evidence that multilinguals were superior in language-learning abilities overall, although they were more able to adjust their learning strategies according to language task requirements. (Author/CB)

Literature on foreign language anxiety shows a considerable amount of ambiguity arising from conflicting results of past studies. An attempt is made to show that these difficulties can be resolved given an awareness of the theoretical perspective from which this research has developed. (Author/VWL)

Examines perspectives from which foreign language anxiety research has been conducted, the instruments that have been used, and the results that have been reported. Three approaches to the study of anxiety are identified as trait, state, and situation specific perspectives. (68 references) (VWL)

Second-language scholars have suggested that Krashen's construct of "i +1" is similar to Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and that it might therefore be feasible to integrate the two constructs in way that would be productive for second-language acquisition (SLA) research. Article argues that this is futile, not only because…

Responds to a previous article on research in second-language learning, challenging the need for discussion on the promises and problems, and asserting the need to report definitive results. (Author/JL)

Identifies three areas of research relevant to examining literacy acquisition in bilinguals, explains the contributions of each, and associates each with a skill required by monolingual and bilingual children in the development of literacy acquisition skills. (Author/VWL)

Much of the research that contributes to understanding how bilingual children become literate is not able to isolate the contribution of bilingualism to the discussion of literacy acquisition for these children. This article begins by identifying three areas of research that are relevant to examining literacy acquisition in bilinguals, explaining…

This study considered the effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2007) and sociobiographical variables (age, gender, education level, number of languages known, age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use, socialization, network of interlocutors, self-perceived proficiency) on…

Seeks to determine how consistently a sample of hearing mothers using simultaneous communication to their deaf children signed what they said. Data indicate that the difficulty of simulaneously signing and saying the message predisposes the mothers toward inconsistent simplification in the signed input which may or may not be helpful for language…