After setting definitions of pragmatics, prosody, and nonverbal communication, this paper reviews politeness theories and research in these fields, discussing their implications for teaching. It is posited that learners whose first language and native culture are more similar to the target language (TL) and culture are more likely to experience TL…

Connor comments on Raimes' research on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) essay component, the Test of Written English (TWE), and the practices of the Educational Testing Service. Raimes' response is directed toward the TWE research agenda. (five references) (Author/LB)

The assignment of primary stress to English words by a group of Arab speakers was studied by having the speakers pronounce both different types of words and validated nonsense words. Results indicate that newly concocted words may not be correctly pronounced by a significant number of subjects selected from the same populations. (18 references)…

The relationship between second-language acquisition (SLA) and other disciplines is examined, beginning with a review of SLA studies and the broader field of applied linguistics and language pedagogy. It is argued that SLA must be recognized as a field important to linguistics, pedagogy, and psychology. (37 references) (Author/LB)

The way in which second-language learners form mental representations of information they read was examined. Subjects read passages in their first and second languages and then demonstrated their comprehension of the information. Results suggest that information read in a second language is represented differently than the same information read in…

GPARS is a generalized transition network system designed for language study by both students and researchers. It generalizes the Augmented Transition Network formalism by allowing top-down, bottom-up, depth-first, breadth-first, determininistic, and nondeterministic parsing strategies to be freely intermixed. (26 references) (Author/LB)

Discusses whether second-language learners have access to universal grammar by looking at the acquisition of German English-as-a-Second-Language high school students. The students were exposed to English exclusively during classroom hours. Results of the study suggest that these students did not have access to universal grammar. (16 references)…

Analysis of 50 empirical classroom-oriented investigations of second-language learning concludes that there is a need for more contextualized research; extended theoretical bases of research; an extended range of research tools, techniques, and methods; reevaluation of the distinctions between process- and product-oriented research; and more…

Argues that it is time to begin integrating models of second-language (L2) research, to test and develop integrated models for L2 data, and to develop integrated explanatory theories to explain these data. (22 references) (JL)

A review is offered of various bilingual memory studies that have been carried out during the past quarter century. Most of the studies have employed lexical items as the investigative tool, tested outside of a grammatical or semantic context. (Contains 58 references.) (JL)

Reviews psycholinguistic research on second-language (L2) self-repair to date with particular attention to the relevance of this field for L2 production and acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Examines claims made by Sokolik and Smith (1992) about a connectionist model of acquisition of French gender attribution by reference to various results gained through a number of extensions to their network model. These results suggest a degree of caution in accepting Sokolik and Smith's conclusions.(Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of research over the last 35 years concerning study abroad participants' perceptions of language and language learning, the role of the language classroom, influence of the social environment, and the study abroad experience. The impact of students' performance on the language learning process and the value of student…

Summarized findings from experimental and quasi-experimental investigations into the effectiveness of second language instruction. Comparisons of average effect sizes from sample studies indicated focused second language instruction results in large target-oriented gains, explicit types of instruction are more effective than implicit types, and…

Compares conversion, a morphological process by which a word formed without explicit derivational mark, to phenomenon of multifunctionality; discusses with reference to alternative label of zero-derivation and directonality. Drawing on English and Italian second-language acquisition data, study shows process is productive from initial stages of…