Examines the differential use of formal explicit knowledge and intuitive implicit knowledge in a second language grammaticality judgement tasks. (Author/AM)

Argues that abstract, figurative senses of polysemous words are better retained when learners are given core senses as cues, because providing a core sense helps learners develop a "precise elaboration." Results of a series of vocabulary studies involving Dutch learners of English show that providing a core sense results in better guessing and…

Examines perceived competence in a second language (L2) as a function of actual competence and language anxiety. Anglophone college students with varied competency in French completed scales of language anxiety and a modified version of the "can-do" test, which assessed their self-perceptions of competence on 26 French tasks. Findings indicate…

An English discourse completion questionnaire consisting of 60 situations designed to elicit suggestions in English was administered to 28 native speakers of Chinese or Malay and to 12 native speakers of American English. Non-native speakers of English were more direct in their responses. Native and non-native speakers significantly differed in…

Examines the components of motivation in foreign language learning in institutional/academic settings without regular interaction with the target language community. A motivational questionnaire to define the relevance and characteristics of integration and instrumentality in foreign language learning was developed and administered to learners of…

The validity of 2 implicational universals regarding constituent order in questions is tested in the English speech of 14 native speakers of Japanese, Turkish, and Korean. The interlanguage evidence is found to be generally supportive of the 2 universals. (31 references). (Author/VWL)

Describes an introspective study of four advanced learners of German under conditions of initial extensive exposure to the second language community. It is suggested that introspective techniques can profitably be employed with the advanced learner. (49 references) (CB)

To mark the 40th anniversary of "Language Learning," the journal's first article is reprinted and identifies five motives for studying foreign languages: (1) "knowledge of a foreign language is the sign of a cultivated man"; (2) foreign insularism; (3) necessity of creating a political fusion; (4) trade and colonization; and (5) scientific and…

Investigated how English-as-a-Second-Language (L2) readers used structural properties of a text to "fill in the gaps" in their mental representations and compared these with native English readers' recall protocols. L2 readers' structure-preserving recalls were higher than their meaning-preserving protocols. Results suggest that L2 readers used…

Conflicting evidence regarding listening comprehension as a separate trait in language proficiency is reviewed. Two studies conducted in Japan are presented that use the multitrait-multimethod methodology to examine the construct validity of the listening trait. (74 references) (Author/LB)

An error analysis based on phonetic transcription of French utterances by native speakers of Cantonese yielded a scale of difficulty for word-initial and word-final consonants. The Markedness Differential Hypothesis explained some errors. Evidence also pointed to interaction of language acquisition with markedness reversals. (35 references) (CNP)

This study investigated factors associated with the acquisition of second-language pronunciation and methodological problems associated with the study of foreign accents. Thirty-six native speakers of Russian fluent in English read specifically constructed English sentences and a prose passage, and talked spontaneously about their daily routine.…

Outlines empirical studies of the effects of "book floods" on elementary school students' acquisition of a second language, indicating that exposure to an extensive range of high-interest illustrated story books encourages children to read and learn the target language more quickly, as well as develop positive attitudes toward books. (38…

Investigated how francophone nurses, newly hired in an English-speaking hospital in Quebec, Canada, developed skill in writing nursing notes in English. Data from interviews and observations indicated that social context and mediation were an important part of nurses' ability to appropriate competence in a subgenre of nursing notes in English. (SM)