Research on second language lexical development during reading has found positive effects for word frequency, the provision of glosses, and elaborative word processing. However, findings have been inconclusive regarding the effect of such intervention tasks on long-term retention. Likewise, few studies have looked at the cumulative effect of…

Our previous research showed that Russian children commit fewer gender-agreement errors with diminutive nouns than with their simplex counterparts. Experiment 1 replicates this finding with Russian children (N=24, mean 3;7, range 2;10-4;6). Gender agreement was recorded from adjective usage as children described animal pictures given just their…

Infant-directed maternal speech is an important component of infants' linguistic input. However, speech from other speakers and speech directed to others constitute a large amount of the linguistic environment. What are the properties of infant-directed speech that differentiate it from other components of infants' speech environment? To what…

This paper reports on the effects of classroom exercises that encourage noticing and conscious attention to form, which were part of a university EFL oral presentation course in Japan. The students on the course were given a set of exercises that encouraged them to notice and to reflect on L2 forms of their own choosing throughout one academic…

Research on input processing in the acquisition of a non-primary language has rested largely on the assumption that learners use a meaning-based approach as the "default" when processing input (VanPatten, 1996). The study reported here poses a challenge to this assumption: findings show that participants who were absolute beginners used a…

When children learn language, they apply their language-learning skills to the linguistic input they receive. But what happens if children are not exposed to input from a conventional language? Do they engage their language-learning skills nonetheless, applying them to whatever unconventional input they have? We address this question by examining…

Argues that parental input is an important factor often neglected in research that may mediate language outcomes. Investigated how parents interact with their 12-month-old children, who suffer from otitis media status. Results indicate that parents of chronically affected children direct attention more often and engage in fewer joint attentional…

Discusses frequency effects in language acquisition. Provides an example of how frequency may relate to grammatical judgments of nonnative speakers acquisition of multiple wh-questions. (Author/VWL)

Examined young children's acquisition of wh-questions. Children heard a wh-question and attempted to repeat it; a "talking bear" answered. The same format was used for two intervention sessions for children in a quasicontrol condition. Suggests very little input--if concentrated and varied and presented so the child attends to it and…

Examined the extent to which years of exposure to a language, amount of language input at home and at school, and amount of exposure to reading and other literacy activities in a language relate to observed bilingual performance in young children as obtained from teacher and parent reports. (VWL)

Examines the connection between empirical studies of interaction involving second-language learners and the specific claims of Krashen's Input Hypothesis, as modified by Chaudron, White, and Swain. (36 references) (GLR)

Reanalyzes the notion of consciousness raising in language learning. It is suggested that there are different ways of making input salient and different ways in which salience may affect the learner's knowledge and performance in the second language. (20 references) (JL)

Discusses what it takes to acquire language, and suggests that second language acquisition can occur without living in the country where the language is spoken and without formal instruction. The crucial variables appear to be comprehensible input and having a good relationship with speakers of the language. Provides an example of a Mexican…

The notion that a sensitive period exists for language acquisition has gained support from several studies. This study demonstrates that there exist differing periods of heightened sensitivity for certain aspects of the target language, periods before and after in which the learner is less sensitive to the relevant input. (Author/JL)

All other things being equal the parser favors attaching an ambiguous modifier to the most recent possible site. A plausible explanation is that locality preferences such as this arise in the service of minimizing memory costs--more distant sentential material is more difficult to reactivate than more recent material. Note that processing any…