Describes the compilation of the Future Teachers' Frequency Vocabulary, based on 236 written compositions by students at a teacher training college in Belgrade. Results were compared with the Child Frequency Vocabulary compiled in 1983, based on children's compositions. (LET)

Researchers at the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) have built a large database of every-day English and dictionary (COBUILD) for producing better English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language teaching and learning materials. The lexical syllabus and the English course that has evolved from is are discussed. (23 references) (Author/LB)

Reports on a two-phase study of second-language learner use of listener feedback, particularly their use of clarification questions in native speaker-nonnative speaker discourse. (29 references) (JL)

A review of data collection methods used in 39 studies of interlanguage pragmatics, focusing on the validity of different types of data resulting from discourse completion, role play, observation of authentic speech, and multiple approaches, concludes that caution is needed in determining the true validity of the collected data. (72 references)…

Native speaking learners of English were compared with foreign learners with regard to confusion of "synforms" (similar lexical forms). Synform-induced errors were similar in native speaking learners and foreign learners indicating that all learners, native and foreign, follow coinciding developmental sequences. (24 references)…

Practice on cognitive tasks, such as word recognition tasks, will usually lead to faster and more stable responding in a second language. An analysis is presented of the relationship between observed reductions in performance latency and latency variability with respect to whether processing has become faster or whether a qualitative change, such…

With its focus on language teaching and learning processes, French immersion research of the 1900s deals with a number of issues of significance to teachers. These include the following: early development of strategic competence, the role of the first language, problematic language features, and learning needs. Field studies of classroom…

Addresses some of the recent debates regarding second-language acquisition (SLA). Draws on studies of school restructuring and argues that SLA needs to be understood as an institutional phenomenon, because the ways in which schools are structured present or constrain possibilities for language use and development. (Author/VWL)

Reports the results of research attempting to document the role of learners' linguistic output in drawing their attention to linguistic form and in acquiring the form. Compares experimental and comparison groups that participated in a pretest, two post-tests, and four learning tasks. (Author/VWL)

Reviews research on the acquisition of suprasegmentals by second language learners and the potential of computer-based instructional materials for improving intonation; describes and critiques some of the software previously available for this purpose; and suggests criteria for the conceptualization of multimedia software and concomitant research…

Reviews recent second-language acquisition studies that have methodologically assumed a direct relationship between the acquisition of inflectional morphology and the development of functional phrase structure in the syntax. Results from naturalistic production data collected over eight years apart are reported, establishing the…

An issue currently being debated in second-language acquisition research is whether negative evidence (i.e., information to the learner that his or her utterance is ungrammatical) plays a positive role in the acquisition of the second language. Article reports the results of a small scale study that investigated the effects of formal instruction…

A review of research on second language (L2) speech looks at four issues of process and product: whether speech is different from writing; whether oral discourse patterns differ from one language to another; whether L2 speaker oral skills differ significantly from native speakers'; and how L2 speech develops. (MSE)

A study analyzed the syllable structure of Canadian French as perceived by native (L1) and second-language (L2) speakers using forced-choice lexical division. Results indicate that although L2 learners acquire L2 syllable structures, their perception of syllable division is influenced by L1 structures, and L2-learners' syllable division approaches…

Provides an historical sketch of form-focused instruction research, defines what is meant by form-focused instruction, and discusses the main research methods that have been used to investigate form-focused instruction in terms of a broad distinction between confirmatory and interpretive research. (Author/VWL)