Concept-based language instruction (C-BLI) is a pedagogy guided by sociocultural theory, which has been shown to be effective in facilitating second language learning. Typical activities include materialization by using a schema for a complete orienting basis of an action (SCOBA) and languaging, through which learners' internalization of…

This study investigates the role of proficiency in the acquisition of conventional expressions as a pragmalinguistic resource in second-language (L2) Chinese. One hundred and four undergraduates, including 57 learners of Chinese as a foreign language at 3 levels of university instruction and 47 native speakers completed an aural-oral discourse…

The current 2-part study investigated the relative contributions of English language training (ELT) and computerized Cogmed working memory training (WMT) to improvements in English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) proficiency and working memory capacity. In Study 1, Japanese undergraduate EFL learners were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 experimental…