The current study examined the extent to which native speakers of North American and Singapore English differentially perceive the comprehensibility (ease of understanding) of second language (L2) speech. Spontaneous speech samples elicited from 50 Japanese learners of English with various proficiency levels were first rated by 10 Canadian and 10…

Previous research has shown that the degree of structure in a task affects the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of L2 oral production (Foster & Skehan 1999). The acquisition of pragmatic markers may be related to the development of second language fluency, but there is limited research on their use by second language learners on different…

Using interview data from 11 international students, this paper compares international students' experiences at a single American university, and the acculturation issues that they encountered. The students assessed their experiences at the university, both positive and negative, and discussed their perceptions of American ways of doing things.…