The current study explores whether form-focused instruction with different timing and availability conditions can be used with repetitive writing tasks to enhance grammatical accuracy and fluency. Sixty-one intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners performed three text reconstruction tasks: Task 1, Repeat Task, New Task, and…

The benefits of task-based interaction in Second Language Learning (SLL) have been made increasingly evident in the literature. However, unlike adult studies, only recently has interaction research on EFL children grown in popularity. Most children-based research has focused primarily on Negotiation of Meaning, while other age-related aspects,…

This study investigated how adult second language (L2) learners of Mandarin Chinese use knowledge of phonological and lexical statistical regularities when acoustic information is insufficient for word recognition. A gating task was used to test intermediate L2 learners at two time points across a semester of classroom learning. Native Mandarin…

Although most second language learning studies involve high-educated participants, addressing low-educated participants seems important as research suggests that education background impacts second language (L2) learning efficiency. A controversial point in the L2 learning literature is the role of corrective feedback (CF). Research on CF in…

The extent to which learners benefit from instruction may be largely dependent on their individual abilities. However, there is relatively little work on the interaction between instructional effectiveness in second language learning and learner individual factors. In this study, we investigated the relationship between instruction, individual…

This study investigated the effects of extensive versus intensive recasts. The focus was on the effect of feedback on learning English articles, which, as nonsalient target structures, have been shown to be difficult for many second language learners. Intensive recasts were operationalized as recasts provided on article errors only, while…

The present mixed-methods study examined the role of learner appraisals of speech tasks in second language (L2) French fluency. Forty adult learners in a Canadian immersion program participated in the study that compared four sources of data: (1) objectively measured utterance fluency in participants' performances of three narrative tasks…

The purpose of this paper is to compare structured input (SI) with other input-based instructional treatments. The input-based instructional types include: input flood (IF), text enhancement (TE), SI activities, and focused input (FI; SI without implicit negative feedback). Participants included 145 adult learners enrolled in an intermediate…

Teaching grammar is still a topic of heated debate in second/foreign language teaching. One major approach to teaching grammar holds that the learners should receive reactive focus on form in the context of communicative language teaching. The present study is an attempt to examine the effect of task repetition along with reactive focus on form on…

Examines a task that can be applied in a uniform fashion across different languages to compare levels of vocabulary development in foreign-language learning. Results indicate that the lexical decision task can be a useful tool for the assessment and cross-linguistic comparison of lexical development in foreign-language learning. (37 references)…