Investigates the knowledge of multiple wh-questions such as "Who ate what?" by high-proficiency Japanese speakers of English. Acceptability judgments were obtained on six different types of questions. Acceptability of English examples was rated by native speakers of English, Japanese examples were judged by native speakers of Japanese,…

This article reports on an introspective study that examined the effect of EFL learners' L2 reading proficiency on their L2 lexical inferencing while reading an English expository text. The knowledge sources and contextual cues they used in the process, the level of success they achieved, and their rate of learning and retention of the inferred…

This study investigates performance on oral tasks across two groups of francophone learners with different ESL instruction. It reports on second language (L2) ability gains in intensive instruction and regular instruction. To date, gains in oral proficiency have not been reported in such programs, nor has there been a comparison across two…

In face-to-face teaching, the educator is able to directly mediate learning and gauge the level of the learners' English proficiency. Teleteaching makes this virtually impossible, as learners are invisible and thus immediate intervention in learning or estimations of proficiency are much more difficult to achieve. TELETUKS Schools 1--a community…

Second-language acquisition theorists caution educators that higher second-language competency skills can take anywhere from five to eight years to attain realistically for any individual acquiring competency in a second language. There are many other variables like age of arrival in the United States and standard of education from home country…

There is a growing volume of research on task-based language use; however, the nature of "task proficiency" has not yet been clearly defined. In order to gain new insights, this study examines the relationship between the process of communication in an L2 and a task outcome by analysing lexical density, as obtained from the pattern of a…

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is an aptitude test, thought to reflect intelligence or the capacity to learn (Larsen & Buss, 2003). It is a standardized admission exam designed to predict performance in graduate school through verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning questions. The GRE Board encourages graduate schools,…

A structural equation model of second language (L2; English) reading comprehension was tested on a sample of 135 Spanish-speaking 4th-grade English-language learners (ELLs). The model included 2 levels: decoding and oral language. English decoding measures included alphabetic knowledge and fluency. English oral language measures included…

This paper treats methodological issues involved in assessing linguistic competence in the field, specifically in bilingual fieldwork situations. First, the various means of assessment of linguistic competence that have been described and/or used are listed and commented on. Then the authors explain the choice of assessment methods for fieldwork…

Bilingual speakers report experiencing stronger emotions when speaking and hearing their first language compared to their second. Does this occur even when a second language is learned early and becomes the dominant language? Spanish-English bilinguals who had grown up in the USA (early learners) or those who were first exposed to English during…

Every year, thousands of students worldwide leave home for the purpose of participating in an educational experience in a different country. Israel is one of the many destinations offering study abroad programs. Yet, being a Jewish country and a homeland for the Jewish Diaspora (Jewish communities outside Israel), Israel constitutes a unique study…

This paper develops a scalar or quantitative measure of the "distance" between English and a myriad of other (non-native American) languages. This measure is based on the difficulty Americans have learning other languages. The linguistic distance measure is then used in an analysis of the determinants of English language proficiency…

This study represents a first effort to identify sociocultural background variables that predict the successful mastery of a heritage language by adult learners. While there are well-documented sociocultural models for other second language learners, thus far there are no similar published models for heritage language learners. We focused on…

The relationship between the frequency of African-American English (AAE) features used by African-American adolescent males (n = 16) and their performance on the seven clusters comprising the "Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery-Revised" (WLPB-R) was investigated. All participants were between the ages of 15 and 19 years who had a…

The Greek community in Australia attempts, with reasonable success, to maintain Greek language proficiency in succeeding generations, but attitudinal barriers within the community may be impeding the process. A study of the stakeholders (primary and secondary staff, parents, students and management) of one Greek independent school in Melbourne…