Examines longitudinal data from two Vietnamese learners of English to investigate syllable structure in their interlanguages. First language transfer emerged as the dominant process influencing syllable structure in interlanguage phonology. Analysis of conversational data at three points over a 10-month period showed first language transfer in…

Reports on study in which students of Hebrew as a second language took four versions of oral proficiency test. Results indicate that different speech styles and topics significantly affected students' scores, and correlational analyses between pairs pointed to low reliability and lack of stability of the test. Urges caution in making decisions…

A model of language transfer is proposed. It examines the nature of language transfer, identifies which language phenomena are transferred, and predicts conditions for language transfer occurrence. The model includes notions of language universals, language distance, and surface language phenomena. (PMJ)

Questions the extent to which attention differentially affects different parts of language and how this differential effect interacts with increased linguistic knowledge. Subjects were native English speaking learners of Italian. (Author/VWL)

Examines feasibility of an experimental computerized training for fluent lexical retrieval in the second language in a classroom setting, applying techniques previously restricted to laboratory use. Results on both a lexical decision task and written lexical retrieval task show students in each condition have higher accuracy scores and superior…

A review of the arguments (including fossilization, improved language performance, and the role of error correction) supporting a focus on linguistic accuracy and grammar during early second language learning found no research evidence showing this approach to be beneficial. (Author/CB)

Employed systematic procedures for research synthesis and meta-analysis to summarize findings from investigations into the effectiveness of second language (L2) instruction published between 1980 and 1998. Data indicated that L2 instruction results in large target-oriented gains, that explicit types of instruction are more effective than implicit…

Reviews the history of applied linguistics together with the history of the journal "Language Learning," indicating the journal's particular place in that larger history and honoring its 50th anniversary. (Author/JL)

Presents a research agenda in which the study of interlanguage becomes more central to the study of interlanguage pragmatics, assessing the state of acquisition research in interlanguage pragmatics, surveying work in interlanguage pragmatics that either directly examines or appeals to grammatical competence, showing how acquisition studies in…

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…

This study compares quantitative and qualitative results for task-based second language (L2) grammar instruction conducted as whole-class, teacher-led discourse (TLD) versus small-group, learner-led discourse (LLD). Participants included 78 English-speaking adults from six university classes of beginning L2 Spanish, with two assigned to each…

The study reported in this article describes second language (L2) vocabulary learning outcomes associated with adult L2 reading comprehension processes, thus connecting L2 learning with the complex cognitive and linguistic processing involved in reading. The study aimed to determine whether background knowledge moderated the relationship between…

If literature is to be a useful vehicle for the teaching of second language skills, that literature must first succeed as a literary experience for the student. The failure of literary texts in second language teaching is often the result of a failure to encourage or even to allow students to receive such texts as literature, that is, as a…

Describes a study in which subjects varying in both language aptitude and attitudinal/motivational characteristics were studied to see how quickly they learned French vocabulary using a paired associates paradigm. Two different modes were used. In one, the stimuli were presented visually; in the other, they were presented aurally. All three…

Describes a study which examined the relationship between learner chatacteristics and achievement in French as a second language. Results indicate that subjects who have more schooling, a higher degree of nonverbal reasoning ability, and make greater use of French outside the classroom are more likely to benefit from formal language instruction.…