Outlines a framework for academic language learning that highlights the importance of focusing instructionally on meaning, language, and use. Reviews research that suggests that to develop students' academic language proficiency in bilingual or trilingual contexts, instruction must focus extensively on the processing of comprehensible input.…

Presents model describing adult learning of morphosyntax in a novel language where frequency and regularity are factorially combined. Accuracy and latency data show frequency effects for both regular/irregular forms early in acquisition process; as learning progresses, frequency effect on regular items diminishes but remains for irregular items.…

Suggests that foreign language learners will achieve a higher level of language if they are made aware of--and given the opportunity to manipulate--extralinguistic variables with regard to the texts they study. Teaching materials (e.g., textbook dialogues, audiotaped or videotaped texts) should include the context-based information necessary for…

Examines the psychometric properties of the Input Anxiety Scale, the Processing Anxiety Scale, and the Output Anxiety Scale, which measure anxiety at the input, processing, and output stages of the foreign language learning process. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the relationship between the terms psycholinguistics and applied linguistics, and in the process explores key issues in multilingual processing, such as the structure of the bilingual lexicon, language choice in production and perception, and the language mode. (Author/VWL)

Tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs) in proficient Hebrew-English bilinguals were compared to those of age-matched monolinguals. Monolinguals retrieved words in English, and bilinguals retrieved words from both languages. Results showed an increased TOT rate in bilinguals. (Author/VWL)

This study examined whether exposure to second/foreign language (L2) data under different computerized task conditions had a differential impact on learners' ability to recognize and produce the target structure immediately after exposure to the input and over time. Learners' L2 development was assessed through recognition and…

We assessed the effect of additional tasks on language perception in second-language and native speakers. The N400 component of the event-related potential was recorded to spoken nouns that had to be judged for synonymity with a preceding word, while additional choice responses were required to visual stimuli. In both participant groups N400 was…

The effects of age of acquisition (AoA) in the first (L1) and second (L2) languages of Spanish--English bilinguals were explored using a translation judgement task in which participants decided whether or not pairs of words in the two languages were translations of each other (i.e., had the same meaning). Experiment 1 found an effect of second…

For the purposes of this article, the authors define "multilingualism" as a state of general communicative proficiency in more than two languages; that is, a person is multilingual when he or she can fulfill his or her communicative goals in at least three languages. Bilingualism and trilingualism are thus seen as specific subtypes of a…

Students learning a second language commonly confront insurmountable obstacles in the language acquisition process, due to the ineffectiveness of traditional, grammar-first methods. This creates detrimental effects on the learner and his or her self-esteem. Existing literature contains information about problems created by traditional approaches,…

The present study investigated the cognitive nature of second language (L2) lexical processing in sentence context. We examined bilinguals' L2 word recognition performance for language-ambiguous words [cognates (e.g., "piano") and homographs (e.g., "pan")] in two sentence context experiments with highly proficient Spanish-English bilinguals living…

We present the results from an experiment that tests the perception of English consonantal sequences by Korean speakers and we confirm that perceptual epenthesis in a second language (L2) arises from syllable structure restrictions of the first language (L1), rather than linear co-occurrence restrictions. Our study replicates and extends Dupoux,…

This paper reports on an empirical case study conducted to investigate the overall conditions and challenges of integrating corpus materials and corpus-based learning activities into English-language classes at a secondary school in Germany. Starting from the observation that in spite of the large amount of research into corpus-based language…

This study reports the results of a picture verification task assessing the interpretation of intra-sentential anaphora and cataphora in Italian by a group of English-Italian bilingual eight-year-olds, a group of age-matched Italian monolinguals, and a group of Italian monolingual adults. No significant differences between the groups were observed…