This study examined how 16 adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in an intensive ESL program used tense contrast and time adverbials to produce reverse-order reports. The study found that the students marked reverse-order reports as deviations from chronological order by their use of tense contrast and time adverbials. (26…

Reexamines the construct of field independence/dependence and its measurement in second-language acquisition research, focusing on its role in language testing and good language-learner theories. (68 references) (Author/CB)

Examines native language transfer in second-language comprehension and production in relation to the different demands that the four language modalities make on the second-language learner and focuses on the different roles played by context and potential knowledge in comprehension and production. (53 references) (Author/CB)

An investigation into the effects of varying speech rates on English-as-a-Second-Language learners' comprehension of 350- to 400-word passages read by native speakers found that moderately fast speech rates resulted in significantly reduced comprehension, although there were few differences among comprehension at slow and average speech rates. (56…

Proposes that a second-language acquisition research paradigm using Universal Grammar (1) did not consider the paradigm's theoretical and logical basis; (2) simplistically interpreted the parameter-setting paradigm; (3) and made false assumptions regarding statistical analysis methods and regarding the empirical facts of language processing. An…

Reports an experiment investigating similarities and differences in basic processing involved in the word reading of second-language learners of English. The investigation specifically targeted phonological and orthographic processes in the context of language transfer from native language to second language during reading tasks. (Author/VWL)

Discusses research on classroom instructed second language learning, focusing solely on spoken language. Examines the structure of repair in form and accuracy contexts in the second language classroom and on the preference organization association within the structure of repair in such contexts. (Author/VWL)

Fifty-five children from multilingual backgrounds being educated in English were studied longitudinally over a 2-year period with measures taken of their phonological skill, vocabulary, and letter knowledge. Phonological segmentation ability and letter knowledge proved significant predictors of both concurrent and later reading achievement a year…

To examine the effect of diminutives on gender learning, adult native speakers of English were taught Russian nouns. Half the participants trained on diminutive nouns and half on nondiminutive baseforms. Over four sessions, participants learned to use adjectives that had to agree in gender with nouns. The diminutive training group demonstrated…

In response to a previous article (Bialystok) on perspectives on the development of applied linguistics, this article begins by adding its own perspectives to what has already been offered. The article concludes by discussing the research agenda for the future. (Author/JL)

Some research has posited a natural order of acquisition of English grammatical morphemes common to all learners of English as a Second Language. This meta-analysis investigated whether a combination of five determinants--perceptual salience, semantic complexity, morphophonological regularity, syntactic category, and frequency) accounts for a…

Examined how acoustic variation affects second language (L2) lexical acquisition in consideration of four hypotheses: degraded input, elaborate processing, independent modulation, and robust versus strong connectivity. Beginners of L2 Spanish attempted to learn 24 Spanish words presented in 1 of 3 degrees of acoustic variation. Immediate and…

Reviews research on the effectiveness of recasts in first and second language acquisition, paying particular attention to how recasts have been defined and how their impact has been assessed in observational and experimental studies. Concludes that recasts appear to be most effective in contexts where it is clear to the learner that the recast is…

The study investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of the adjective marker "-de"(ADJ) in Chinese. It explores the interaction between processing constraints as represented in processability theory (Pienemann, 1998) and the learner's categorial analysis of Chinese adjectives and stative verbs which cross-categorize in the acquisition…

Using role play and verbal-report data, this study investigates the sequential organization of politeness strategies of 24 learners of Spanish and whether the learners' ability to negotiate and mitigate a refusal was influenced by length of residence in the target community. Refusal sequences were examined throughout the interaction head acts,…