This study investigated how students' self-reported individual differences predicted second language (L2) spoken discussion task output, an objective behavioral outcome, in the Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Although numerous psychological theories are used as a rationale for task-based language teaching (TBLT),…

This study investigated classroom interaction through the framework of "stancetaking" (Du Bois, 2007) to understand how Spanish second language (L2) learners positioned themselves when participating in communicative language learning activities. Data came from transcribed audio and video recordings of three 90-minute lessons in one…

This study investigated how adult second language (L2) speakers of French with near-native proficiency realize verbal negation, a well-known sociolinguistic variable in contemporary spoken French. Data included 10 spontaneous informal conversations between near-native speakers of French and native speakers (NSs) closely acquainted with them.…

The present study examined the proposal that the presence of a similar morpheme in the learner's first and second languages (L2) facilitates morphological development in the L2. Advanced Russian and Japanese speakers of English as a second language performed a self-paced reading task in which they read English sentences word by word for…

The current study investigated the impact of recasts together with form-focused instruction (FFI) on the development of second language speech perception and production of English /?/ by Japanese learners. Forty-five learners were randomly assigned to three groups--FFI recasts, FFI only, and Control--and exposed to four hours of communicatively…

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify differences in the neural processes underlying direct and semidirect interviews. We examined brain activation patterns while 20 native speakers of Japanese participated in direct and semidirect interviews in both Japanese (first language [L1]) and English (second language…

This quasi-experimental study reports on a 10-month classroom-based longitudinal investigation, exploring the potential of authentic materials to develop Japanese learners' communicative competence in English. Sixty-two second-year university students were assigned to either a control group receiving textbook input or an experimental group…

Examines group differences in second-language development from perspectives provided by literature on orality and literacy. Results show that university English-as-a-Second-Language students from traditional oral cultures tended to focus on interpersonal involvement in their speaking and writing, and use difficult structures more than students…

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)

It was found that native English speakers and native Spanish speakers who listened to tapes of Puerto Rican learners of English of various levels of proficiency differed principally in how they rated the linguistic form of the speakers and in the annoyance reported. Pronunciation and hesitations were reported by both groups as the most distracting…

Reports on a study of language learners' comprehension of speech acts and discourse functions, referred to as pragmatic comprehension. Analyzes two types of learners' pragmatic misunderstandings: their failure to distinguish between phatic talk and referential talk, and their failure to identify the intended illocutionary force of indirect speech…

This study addresses the role of output in second language (L2) acquisition by comparing processing instruction (PI) to communicative output (CO) tasks. Participants included 80 English-speaking adults from six university course sections of beginning L2 Spanish, with two assigned to each treatment (PI = 27; CO = 28) and two others comprising a…

Presents the results of three studies that support the hypothesis that there are two types of proficiency in second language learning, "compartmentalized control" and "integrated control." Relevance to the Monitor Model and a method of teaching for integration are discussed. (Author/AM)

Examines trends in second language (L2) communication strategy (CS) research. A comprehensive review is included of the relevant literature from the last two decades, with particular reference to the different ways in which CSs have been defined and to the corresponding influences on the organization of strategy taxonomies. (92 references)…

Investigation of the use of a multiple-trait scoring procedure to obtain communicative writing profiles of adult nonnative English speakers found that the scoring method was highly reliable in composite assessment, but provided little psychometric support for assessing certain individual writing components. (28 references) (Author/CB)