In this study, the authors used a dual-task flanker paradigm to investigate the degree to which flankers are coprocessed with the target as a function of whether flankers have to be used as stimuli for a second task. A series of experiments, in which performance in dual tasks was compared with that in single tasks, revealed that participants had a…

Effects of object-name contiguity on word production were examined in 1 1/2- to 2-yr-old children. Two objects and two spoken names were presented in each of three experiments. Each object was the referent of 1 spoken name. An object was presented either together with its spoken name (modeling trial) or alone (test trial). Modeling trials and test…

Early analysis sought to identify tasks while recent techniques focus upon analysis of the content of tasks and are more prescriptive. Examples of such analysis appropriate to sequential tasks, one behavior chain task and one algorithm task, are presented to illustrate the prescriptive function of content analysis. (Author)

Suggests the definition of task analysis as "the breakdown of performance into detailed levels of specificity," and recommends describing performance in increasing levels of detail throughout the analytical process. (WBC)

This dissertation investigates the acquisition of oblique relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Moroccan Arabic speakers in order to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and its interaction with Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other hand.…

The 5th International Conference on Language, Literature and Culture has been hosted by Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (Burdur, Turkey), in cooperation with Çankaya University (Ankara, Turkey) and Süleyman Demirel University (Isparta, Turkey). Our main aim has been to provide a forum for discussion, to facilitate integration in these fields, and to…

In Sociocultural Theory, mediations in second language learning include (1) mediation by others (2) mediation by self (3) and mediation by artifacts, which incorporates brilliant insights for EFL contexts (Lantolf, 2000). Putting these ideas in a task-based method, the present study aimed at examining the contribution of scaffolding and private…

The 2011 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a joint conference with the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association, focused on trends, innovations, and national programs that are picking up steam as the first decade of the twenty-first century ends. Several innovations have the potential to unify world language…

In the past few years, the number of students placing into developmental or remedial college courses has grown considerably. Research is needed to explore the learning dynamics of underprepared students and to offer insights for practice. However research in the developmental field so far has lacked a scholarly, rigorous approach, and research in…

Learners who begin to acquire a second language (L2) in a naturalistic environment after puberty are thought to be constrained by biological age factors and to have greater difficulty obtaining native-like L2. However, the extant literature suggests that L2 acquisition may be positively affected by post-maturational factors, such as acculturation.…

This study examined the independence and interplay between cognitive risk factors (poor executive function/emotion understanding) and maternal risk factors (low education/high depression) for preschool problem behaviors, indexed by multi-measure, multi-informant (mother/teacher/ researcher) ratings. A socio-economically diverse sample of 235…

We investigate how L1 phonology and semantics affect processing of interlingual homographs by manipulating language context before, and auditory input during, a visual experiment in the L2. Three experiments contained German-English homograph primes ("gift" = German "poison") in English sentences and was performed by German (L1) learners of…

Bilinguals spontaneously switch languages in conversation even though laboratory studies reveal robust cued language switching costs. The authors investigated how voluntary-switching costs might differ when switches are voluntary. Younger (Experiments 1-2) and older (Experiment 3) Spanish-English bilinguals named pictures in 3 conditions: (a)…

Schools following the Montessori philosophy use individual and small-group teaching methods and hands-on, concrete materials. This study investigated the understanding of place value concepts and abilities of Montessori students by comparing interview task responses of 93 students in grades 1-3 in a Montessori school (n = 47) and in a mostly…

Single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the hand area of the left primary motor cortex or, as a control, to the vertex (STIMULATION: TMS[subscript M1] vs. TMS[subscript vertex]) while right-handed volunteers silently read verbs related to hand actions. We examined three different tasks and time points for stimulation…