Addresses one aspect of individual differences and how socially learned cues may radically influence the verbal learning tasks performed by university students taking a foreign language. The nonuniversity studies reviewed provide the backdrop for a more in-depth study on four memorization modes and how these strategies are largely dependent on…

A study investigated "lexical inventions" in the advanced oral French of 39 native Dutch-speakers, 32 of whom had French as a second language (L2) and English as a third language (L3), with the others having L2 English and L3 French. A higher proportion of lexical inventions produced by French L2 speakers derived from non-standard use of…

A study of the "silent period" in second-language learning focused on behavior of a 6-year-old Polish child shortly after immigration, in interaction with American children, bilingual Polish-American children, and another recent English-learner. Comparing play environments allowed identification of characteristics of interaction with…

Reviews interlanguage pragmatics studies with a focus on learning in a liberal sense; in addition to studies with an explicit focus on development, investigations that examine the effect of proficiency as an independent variable on pragmatic performance are also considered. Two lines of inquiry are suggested for further research. (Author/VWL)

Testing and assessment in English-for-Academic-purposes (EAP) contexts has traditionally been carried out as a needs analysis of learners or a content analysis of courses. This article reassesses this approach to the development and validation of EAP tests on the basis of a theoretical model and recent research into content specificity. (VWL)

A study examined levels of learning strategy use in 149 Hong Kong university students of English-as-a-Second-Language, and the relationship to language proficiency, using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). The appropriateness of using SILL and proficiency measure in tandem to establish a clear relationship between strategy use…

Questions the distinction between "natural" and "instructed" language learning. Introduces two extracts in which adolescents use Panjabi as a second language in peer-group recreation, and then shows how these contradict orthodox images of natural acquisition and classroom learning. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the use of discourse markers by advanced Turkish learners of English. The research discussed here aims to make an initial contribution to the study of how discourse markers are used by second-language learners, and to illustrate why such research should be valuable and necessary component of interlanguage pragmatics. (Author/VWL)

Illustrates subtleties and complexities of gender in language education, and suggests implications of research for educational practice. Demonstrates alternatives for research into gender and language classrooms, showing both how the more familiar approaches can be fruitfully developed and how researchers can go beyond them. (Author/VWL)

Research published in recent years that deals with the Comprehension (Input) Hypothesis is reviewed, and evidence supporting the hypothesis is underlined. The research is from the areas of literacy development, second-language learning, and foreign-language learning and confirms the claim that development of language and literacy operate in much…

Argues that some important aspects of listening as an interactive skill have been neglected in second-language teaching, including the receipt tokens "yeah,""mm hm," and "mm," and that such items should be taught as part of the development of conversational skills. Characteristics of these items' placement in talk sequences, prosodic shape, pause…

Twenty-five advanced Chinese learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) provided grammaticality judents in full-sentence and word-by-word conditions. The results indicated that parsing, and not grammatical competence, is the source of difficulty on performance with subject extraction sentences. Contains 58 references. (MDM)

Journals devoted to language learning and instruction are filled with articles describing new methods, reporting research, and making recommendations. This article looks at two articles published in the late 1980s to determine whether suggestions made nearly a decade ago are reflected in recent textbooks. (Author/JL)

A study examined linguistic, communicative, and social psychological variables affecting an individual's "willingness to communicate" (WTC) in a second language (L2), and suggests a model for integrating them that may useful in L2 WTC research. Twelve specific variables are identified and organized into layers in a heuristic model. It is…

Focuses on complementarity between cognitive and social aspects of writing. Shows that second language (L2) composing processes are constructed in particular social and historical circumstances. Analyzes three areas of L2 composing that are socially mediated: task environment; situated nature of the skilled/unskilled distinction; and the role…