In this article we report on a study undertaken with ESL children between 7 and 8 years old. They carried out communicative tasks in pairs in second language classrooms. We examined patterns of their task-based conversational interactions while we manipulated their familiarity with the procedure and content of the tasks. We found that learners…

The role of instruction to develop learners' pragmatic competence in both second and foreign language contexts has recently motivated a great deal of research. However, most of this research has adopted an explicit instructional approach with only a few studies attempting to operationalise a more implicit condition for pragmatic learning. In order…

More than ever before, educational institutions are called upon to prepare young children for the demands of an increasingly globalised world and the challenges of preserving our biosphere upon which all human life depends. In order to provide them with the personal and professional foundations they need to participate in a multilingual and…

Examined parental speech data demonstrating that linguistic input to children does not contain sufficient information to support unaided learning of the pronoun "one." Examined 18-month-olds' interpretation of sentences with a "one" substitution. Found that 18-month-olds have command of the syntax of "one." Because…

Reports on two studies on input enhancement used to support learners' selection of focus of attention in Spanish second language listening material. Input consisted of video recordings of dialogues between native speakers. Exact repetition and speech rate reduction were examined for effect on comprehension, acquisition of decoding strategies, and…

Phonological neighborhood analyses of tow children's expressive lexicons, maternal input, and an adult lexicon were conducted. In addition to raw counts and frequency-weighted counts, neighborhood size was calculated as the proportion of the lexicon to which each target word is similar, to normalize for vocabulary size differences. Analyses…

Responds to an Ellis (2002), which focuses on frequency in language processing, language use, and language acquisition, Emphasizes the importance of placing frequency in an overarching theoretical framework of language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Examined the relationship between caregiver input to 9-month-old infants and their subsequent language. Mother-infant dyads were videotaped at ages 9, 12, and 30 months. Language comprehension was measured by parent report and correlated with an independent language measure. Found that the total number of words mothers used when their infants were…

This paper focuses on the pedagogical beliefs and practices of immersion teachers in a large midwestern city. (JL)

Reviews five major findings of language research about the effect of explicit instruction and relates them to second-language teaching and learning, covering such areas as the route of acquisition, psycholinguistic readiness, error correction, classroom versus nonclassroom learning, and access to comprehensible and meaningful input. (37…

The type of relatively rapid speech modification sometimes called "accommodation" was examined by tracking change on the part of speakers of Honduran Spanish newly resident among speakers of Northern Mexican Spanish. Final /n/ velarization and spirantization both changed toward local norms, but local contact resulted in greater change…

Gives a brief characterization of the ways second-language acquisition researchers use the computer to elicit second-language (L2) production data or to record how L2 learners process L2 input. Eight tasks and/or techniques are described. Discusses the use of computer technology in ongoing investigations that pertain to the acquisition of…

Examined how a bilingual child might come to an understanding of the existence of two languages in terms of pragmatic differentiation and lexical differentiation. Using data from a Portuguese-English bilingual child, showed that the child exhibited evidence of pragmatic differentiation before lexical differentiation. (Author/VWL)

Examines language transfer or interference from the perspective of the input the bilingual child is exposed to. Argues that transfer occurs in those domains of the grammar where the language learner is confronted with ambiguous input. (Author/VWL)

Eight commentaries are included on an article that examined language transfer or interference from the perspective of the input the bilingual child is exposed to and argued that transfer occurs in those domains of the grammar where the language learner is confronted with ambiguous input. (Author/VWL)