Investigated the effects of written input enhancement and text length on college students' second-language comprehension and intake. First-year Spanish students were exposed to one of four conditions with enhanced and non-enhanced short and long text. Exposing students to short authentic reading materials facilitated reading comprehension but not…

Describes an activity for teaching English that helps students deal with new words in context, grasp meaning of a text before going into detail, and infer the meaning of new words. The activity focuses on three main goals: building an understanding of the text in spite of new vocabulary; coping with new words, and building confidence. (Author/VWL)

Compares advantages and disadvantages of most types of modern dictionaries from teachers' and researchers' as well as students' points of view. Shows that if clear distinctions are made between learning, test-taking, reading for pleasure, or extensive reading, each type dictionary can be used by itself or in combination with another dictionary,…

English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners in two countries participated in two parallel experiments testing whether retention of vocabulary acquired incidentally is contingent on amount of task-induced involvement. Results are discussed in light of the construct of task-induced involvement. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role of cultural background knowledge on the reading comprehension of third graders acquiring literacy in Dutch as a first and second language while reading noncontrived texts from the reading curricula. Finds a facilitating effect of cultural familiarity for both reading comprehension and reading efficiency. Notes that this effect…

Discusses English-as-a-Second-Language book clubs for adult students, highlighting the benefits and describing the format. Reveals comprehension strategies used for discussion. (Author/VWL)

This study compares 2 measures of reading comprehension: (a) the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension test, a standard in reading research, and (b) the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension (DARC), an innovative measure. Data from 192 Grade 3 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) were used to fit a series of latent variable…

This article outlines a small-scale study of metacognitive instruction for young second language listeners and discusses the value of lessons that highlight the listening process. Ten primary school pupils participated in eight specially designed listening lessons that included traditional listening exercises, individual post-listening reflections…

In 2003 multimedia-based English Trailers (www.english-trailers.com) joined the vast array of web sites dedicated to language learning enabling students, either autonomously or in a CALL classroom, to study English via movie commercials. To assist students in comprehending 10 trailers found on the site, the authors created the Short Readings…

Situated in the context of learning second language (L2) pronunciation, this article discusses from information-processing and pedagogical perspectives the role of repetitive practice with L2 input and of explicit focus on its form-related (phonological) properties. First, we report the results of an auditory word-priming experiment with 60 L2…

The central purpose of this study was to empirically evaluate an in-depth vocabulary knowledge measure in the context of developing the new TOEFL test. The study was carried out with a sample of 207 international students attending an intensive English as a second language (ESL) program in a major Canadian university, in order to determine whether…

This research project investigated the role of the literary text in intermediate reading instruction in an attempt to address the question of how instructors can integrate literary selections into all levels of language instruction. Specifically, the study examined one particular classroom environment and explored its relationship to our present…

In the past, students with learning disabilities who wished to attend university were unable to meet the entry requirements. With the progress of research in diagnosis, accommodation, and remediation of reading disabilities, many of these students are now able to attend and complete their academic and professional education. Yet in many cases the…

This paper examines the relationships among motivation, metacognition, and proficiency in listening comprehension. Adolescent learners of French (N = 57) completed two questionnaires. A motivation questionnaire tapped student responses to three orientations related to motivation: amotivation, intrinsic, and extrinsic. A metacognitive awareness…

Cognitive load can be defined as the amount of mental effort that performing a specific task imposes on a learner's cognitive system. It can be measured by the number of new concepts embedded in a learning task. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with their limited English proficiency and minimal entry knowledge of a subject matter,…