Knowledge of lexical chunks correlates positively with L2 proficiency. However, high estimates of the number of chunks in natural language have led to scepticism about the feasibility of large-scale chunk-learning on non-intensive, classroom-based courses. Furthermore, few proposals for chunk-teaching have looked beyond the noticing stage. One…

In this pilot study, the speech of 12 adult native speakers of English with intermediate to intermediate-high proficiency in Spanish as a second language (L2) was analyzed to determine whether L2 learners rely on distributional information in the process of L2 speech learning and if so, if similar or dissimilar distributional patterns of sounds…

Results from a number of recent studies suggest that nativelike adult second language (L2) learners possess a high degree of language learning aptitude, the positive effects of which may have compensated for the negative effects of a critical period in these learners. According to the same studies, child learners seem to attain a nativelike…

The adoption of English as a corporate language in an increasingly large number of French companies has provoked various reactions ranging from enthusiastic embrace to strong rejection based on anxiety and cultural protectionism. This paper is an attempt to understand these reactions based on a stratified study of the extent to which English has…

After the experience of many years of teaching in two or three languages, the Basque speech community needs to know not merely how much students achieve in each language and what level of proficiency they attain but also which language they use, how often they use each language, and the relationship between language use and other variables. This…

Purpose: This study examined whether young children with typical language development (TL) and children with language impairment (LI) make emotion inferences online during the process of discourse comprehension, identified variables that predict emotion inferencing, and explored the relationship of these variables to social competence. Method:…

The research presented in this report offers new insights about the relationship between changes in adult literacy and changes in employment and earnings. This paper will first describe the design and methodology of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Literacy (LSAL) and then present the key findings from LSAL about individuals' literacy growth over…

In this study a representative sample of 880 elementary and secondary teachers currently teaching in 33 schools across the state of Arizona were asked about their perceptions of how their ELL students were faring under current instructional policies for ELL students. Teachers were surveyed during the Spring of 2010. Overall findings show that most…

Previous comparisons of the gaps in educational achievement between various minority groups (non-White, non-English-speaking, low income) and their counterparts (White, English-speaking, middle income) have tended to disregard the immigrant status of the minority students. In this study, I investigated these gaps within and between immigrant…

In a project-based approach to teaching a foreign language at the university level, students are often required to participate in several task-based writing activities. In doing so, language learners not only write incorrect forms, but also correct forms of the same structures, both of which provide useful information on their strengths and…

Change in higher education, as manifested in curriculum reform, can be particularly difficult as the structures of academia, such as rank and tradition, retard the process. Two recent reports from the Modern Language Association (MLA) strive to address needed curricular adaptations and offer a roadmap of considerations for modifications. The 2007…

Courses in advanced placement (AP) Spanish language and AP Spanish literature are intended to provide students with college-level instruction comparable to a fifth- or sixth-semester conversation and composition experience and to a one-semester introduction to literature experience, respectively. In spite of clearly articulated college…

Language for academic purposes is an important concept, not always recognised and developed within the education system. The ability to use language for learning can be difficult for individuals who are educated in a second language. They are required to master complex concepts in a language they are still acquiring. We aimed to discover how…

In Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, many Mongolian students are learning English as a third language. In the process of L3 teaching and learning, their mother tongue Mongolian, second language Chinese and target language English are involved. The present paper aims to find out teachers' and students' opinions of the use of the three languages in…

Nowadays, English writing and speaking have received more and more attention at home and abroad. Both scholars and educators have done research on second language learning, especially the learning strategies to facilitate the learning and teaching of English. Among all the branches of English, speaking and writing rank to the most important…