Reemphasizes reading and literature in foreign language education and suggests that computer-enhanced reading instruction holds promise as a means to reintroduce culturally dense texts into the curriculum. (Author/VWL)

Examines what percentage of coverage of text is needed for unassisted reading for pleasure, where learners are able to read without the interruption of looking up words. Looks at the effect of three densities of unknown vocabulary on two measures of reading comprehension, a multiple-choice test and a cued written recall test. (Author/VWL)

Presents Dr. Kato Lomb's conclusions about language acquisition, which agree with current theory: comprehensible input is central; grammar plays a peripheral role in language development. (Author/CK)

University English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners' responses to five different types of text-based vocabulary exercises were examined. The objective was to understand better how such exercises can promote different kinds of lexical processing and learning and to compare these outcomes with those from thematic reading for comprehension.…

Presents an action research project and analyzes the problem of enabling students to become competent readers in light of the new Israeli English-as-a-foreign-language curriculum. Describes a process that shows how students who lack reading comprehension skills cannot access information in a written text. (Author/VWL)

Studies Chinese bilingual readers' nonverbal responses (vividness of imagery and emotional response) to a text in English and in Chinese. Finds readers of English text did not understand the passage as well as readers of the Chinese version; however, imagery and affect were formed even in the absence of total understanding, showing they are…

A nested cross-over design was used to examine the effects of visual condition, type of stimuli, and language proficiency on listening comprehension items of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Three two-way interactions were significant: proficiency by type of stimuli, type of stimuli by visual condition, and type of stimuli by time.…

Little research has been conducted to determine what roles the first and second languages play in the reading strategies of L2 readers or how these roles vary at different proficiency levels. this study attempts to address these two issues. Eleven active speakers of Japanese, at two proficiency levels, were asked to think aloud--in the language of…

Compares reading and spelling development of native Dutch-speaking children and minority children in the first two grades. Finds that the minority children kept up with the native Dutch-speaking children on word blending and word decoding tasks, but not on spelling and reading comprehension. Suggests that children learning to read in a second…

Reports on an investigation into the role played by knowledge of both "icraab" and vocabulary in the reading comprehension of American learners of Arabic as a foreign language. Two groups, proficient and less proficient, of nonnative readers of Arabic read an expository text, wrote an immediate recall protocol in their first language to measure…

Anxiety plays an important role in foreign language (FL) students' classroom performance. This study presents the results of the first empirical examination of the effect of general FL learning anxiety on students' achievement in an Arabic course and of listening anxiety on students' listening comprehension. The data came from 2 measures of…

The role of background knowledge in second language (L2) reading has received much attention in pedagogical research through theoretical paradigms such as schema theory, mental models, scripts, and expectations. The recent culture goals of the National Standards (1999) have provided new direction for research in Interactive reading models, as…

There is an acknowledged difficulty in demonstrating that the standard of school exams remains constant over the years. It is a source of debate every summer when exam results come out. There is some evidence that foreign language exams, and French in particular, have declined in standard since the 1980s, but empirical measures to demonstrate this…

In this brief report, we summarize the results of an experiment on the interpretation of English word order patterns by adult Korean- and Japanese-speaking second language learners. Our results suggest that a direct relationship between a construction's word order and the structure of the corresponding event has a greater facilitative effect on…

This study investigated the contribution of gestures and facial cues to second-language learners' listening comprehension of a videotaped lecture by a native speaker of English. A total of 42 low-intermediate and advanced learners of English as a second language were randomly assigned to 3 stimulus conditions: AV-gesture-face audiovisual including…