This study investigates relations between second language (L2) lexical input and output in terms of word information properties (i.e., lexical salience; Ellis, 2006a). The data for this study come from a longitudinal corpus of naturalistic spoken data between L2 learners and first language (L1) interlocutors collected over a year's time. The…

Despite the current importance given to L2 vocabulary acquisition in the last two decades, considerable deficiencies are found in L2 students' vocabulary size. One of the aspects that may influence vocabulary learning is word frequency. However, scholars warn that frequency may lead to wrong conclusions if the way words are distributed is ignored.…

This study examined the second language (L2) development of adult learners of Spanish at three levels of proficiency during and after a semester of instruction. A fundamental goal was to identify cognitive and psychosocial individual differences (IDs) that can explain between-learner variation over time in order to expand our understanding of the…

THE EFFECT OF EXPOSURE TO FRENCH IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES (FLES) ON LATER LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND PERFORMANCE IN FRENCH COURSES IN HIGH SCHOOL WAS EVALUATED. ONE GROUP OF 17 HAD BEEN GIVEN ABOUT 1 HOUR A WEEK OF AUDIOLINGUAL TRAINING BEGINNING IN GRADE 3. THE OTHER GROUP OF 15 BEGAN FRENCH IN GRADE 9. BOTH GROUPS WERE ADMINISTERED THE MLA…

A 1991 study investigated the extent to which living in the United States and communicating daily in English provided students of English as a Second Language (ESL) with skills in interpreting implicature. Subjects were 30 students tested in a 1986 study of ESL implicature who were retested with a battery of four tests: structure; cloze;…

An investigation which attempted to determine the relative effectiveness of monolingual and bilingual glossaries in teaching foreign language vocabulary to adults is described. Eight matched groups of students (four each in two separate experiments) were taught new English words according to two different principles. In half the groups, the…

The paper considers the effects of study abroad on student second language acquisition (SLA) and suggests areas for further study. It begins with an overview of current research on study abroad, its relationship to foreign language programs, and the innovations that this growing research base holds for program development. Attention then turns to…

A study investigated the relationship between the 1982 native language proficiency of 4,700 newly-enrolled Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient (LEP) kindergarten through seventh grade students and their success rates in acquiring English proficiency in the following 4 years. Findings of the study, and the implications derived from the…

This article examines the linguistic benefits of Latin in light of recent research which seems to document the relevance of Latin in building English vocabulary and reading skills. Evidence is cited from eight educational projects in which an experimental group of students taking Latin, and a control group not taking Latin, were pretested,…

A study investigated the effects of instruction in metadiscourse on composition students' writing skills. Subjects were students in two 100-level college composition classes. A Control Class (CC) was taught using a process approach, and the Experimental Class (EC) had direct teaching of metadiscourse. The CC students worked on the propositional…

A study investigated the characteristics and behaviors of college students learning a third language. Four groups of students with backgrounds in Slavic second languages and enrolled in a variety of Slavic and non-Slavic third languages courses were studied using ethnographic techniques, including open-ended questionnaires, focus groups, classroom…

Finds that, among 117 Mexican-American second and fifth graders from Spanish-dominant homes, reading comprehension gains were proportionately much smaller in summer than the school year, while summer and school year gains in auditory vocabulary were similar. Discusses family, peer, and classroom influences on distinct language skills. (SV)

The collection of essays on second language learning during study abroad includes: "Language Learning and Study Abroad" (Barbara F. Freed); "Predictors of Foreign Language Gain During Study Abroad" (Richard D. Brecht, Dan E. Davidson, Ralph B. Ginsberg); "A Canadian Interprovincial Exchange: Evaluating the Linguistic…

The fourth and final report on this study of the impact of bilingual education provides an overview of the design of the study and a summary of the findings, which were discussed in more detail in three previously released volumes. The goals of the study were to: (1) determine both the cognitive and the affective impact of bilingual education on…