The present study explores the use of conjunctions in simple versus complex argumentative tasks performed by second language (L2) learners as a specific measure for the amount of reasoning involved in task performance. The Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2005) states that an increase in cognitive task complexity promotes improvements in L2…

This study investigates contextual features surrounding the use of a first language (L1) in a Japanese university English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) course during peer interaction in the extended preparation phase leading up to two oral presentation tasks (OP1 and OP3), performed seven months apart. Interaction data were analysed in terms of the…

Although much research has gone into the sociolinguistics of the linguistic landscape (space for and language of public signs) in the "peripheral," non-native contexts of English Language use and users, none has been specifically devoted to a Nigerian context. This dissertation is intended to fill this wide gap. Focusing on the Ibadan…

This article reports on a research process where focussed reflection on pharmacist-patient simulations led to meta-pragmatic awareness and directions for pedagogical practice. The research participants were third-year EAL pharmacy students, who were practising being pharmacists, and pharmacy staff members, who played the part of patients. Analysis…

Past scholarly work has examined commercial greeting cards as an important cultural practice. The growing presence in the USA of bilingual greeting cards offers a site for understanding public uses of contact varieties of language. This paper analyses the reactions of 30 college educated US-raised bilingual Latinos to 17 intrasententially…

Religious sermons play a very significant role in a pluralist setting like Nigeria, as organs of social, political and moral education. The fulfilment of these functions is partly contingent on the effective use of language. If the sermon-giver and his audience draw from the same pool of lexis, communication in the genre will not only be enhanced…

The symbolism of "flowers" has always been a significant part of cultures around the world due to their functional meaning in daily life. From their decorative to their aromatic role, flowers and their symbolic meaning trigger emotions, convey wishes and represent thoughts that can not be explicitly expressed. In this regard, an…

This study is a sociolinguistic investigation of the use of four English generic pronouns ("he," "she," "he or she," singular "they") by Arabic-speaking second language learners of English. This study takes a different approach to the investigation of second language (L2) acquisition and use by examining the…

One of the common practices in many basic schools in Ghana is the constant reminder to students to speak English at all times, and the threat of sanctions to those who do not abide by this language regulation. Considering that Ghana is a multilingual country, one would have thought that any of the Ghanaian languages can be used by students at…

This study was designed to gain insight into how early intervention (EI) services incorporate the cultural and linguistic resources of families and how EI professionals and families build partnerships with each other. Through observation and interview, the author looked deeply at the experiences of a small group of culturally and linguistically…

This article makes a case for studying the perceptions that young people have of the ways of speaking of both themselves and others on the supposition that constructions of ambient sociolinguistic variation have an impact on the language development and use of individual language users. Such a study is particularly relevant in multilingual…

This paper draws on fieldwork conducted over the course of one academic year in two urban high-school English learner (EL) classrooms located in the south-western part of the United States. As part of a larger interest in how language ideologies mediate classroom discourse practices, this paper analyses the role of awareness in language…

This study examined object clitic pronouns (OCPs) and verb inflections in twenty-five school-age children with typical development (TD) and twenty children with bilingual language impairment (BLI). MANOVA and ANOVA were used to explore differences according to grade level and language status (TD vs. BLI). Although children with BLI produced higher…

This investigation connects issues in second language (L2) acquisition to topics in quantitative sociolinguistics by exploring the relationship between native-speaker (NS) and L2 variation. It is the first large-scale analysis of L2 mood use (the subjunctive-indicative contrast) in Spanish. It applies variationist findings on the range of…

Current evidence demonstrating the importance of language play in second-language (L2) development rests largely on qualitative analyses of L2 discourse. Although these rich descriptions have illustrated a number of important functions of language play, further study of the phenomenon is necessary to understand its potential to facilitate…