Suggests that the notion of near-native language ability, as currently used in the language teaching profession, should be re-examined. The concept of native speech is complex and often idealized, involving not only a teacher's language skills but also sociocultural norms, peer perceptions, and attitudes about ethnic or regional usage. The concept…

Examined language differentiation in bilingual toddlers prior to the emergence of functional categories. The children were observed with each parent separately and both together. Results indicate that while these children did code mix, they were able to differentiate between their two languages. There was some evidence that language dominance…

Discusses a program to provide a genuine English-speaking environment for language teachers in Outer Mongolia in order to consolidate the use of language structures and increase oral fluency. The article demonstrates that removing the students from their normal living environment was an essential feature of the program. Students and teachers rated…

Japanese university students had the choice of pair taping--a fluency practice in which learners record themselves speaking freely in pairs--for an equivalent amount of time as their once a week English class. Results from self reports showed that learners who chose pair taping (73) over remaining in class (n=28) reported increases in ease of…

How are nonnatives evaluated when committing cultural faux pas, and how does their fluency in the language of the foreign culture affect the evaluation of their culturally inappropriate behavior? I address these questions in the context of Russian professionals learning to interview for jobs in the United States, an arena of strong cultural…

This article gives the perspectives of three teachers of intensive French (IF) as they adjusted their thinking to teaching in a French as a second language (FSL) classroom that was very different from the core French classroom and developed teaching strategies to facilitate effective learning of communication skills by the students. Four major…

This study reports the results of a long-term follow-up of an exercise-based approach to dyslexia-related disorders (Reynolds, Nicolson, & Hambly, "Dyslexia," 2003; 9(1): 48-71). In the initial study, children at risk of dyslexia were identified in 3 years of a junior school. One half then undertook a 6 month, home-based exercise…

There has been relatively little empirical research on the impact of stage of fluency in English of bilingual pupils. However, this issue is increasingly important given growth in the bilingual school population in England of over one-third between 1997 and 2004 to around 10% of the school population. This study evaluates the relationship between…

Speaking a second language is probably the most difficult skill to test in that it involves a combination of skills that may have no correlation with each other, and which do not lend themselves to objective testing. In addition, what can be understood is a function of the listener's background and ability as well as those of the speaker. Another…

A study investigated one major aspect of the process of writing in a second language (L2), surface error correction, and two related issues. The main research questions included: whether (1) L2 writers were preoccupied with surface error correction during the generation of text; and (2) whether this regular interruption of the composing process…

A study of advanced English learners' use or avoidance of English idioms is described. The investigation looked at whether the subjects would attempt to use English idioms in a translation task containing idioms, or would instead use non-idiomatic synonyms or paraphrase. It also looked at which idioms are used and which are avoided: those that are…

Research suggests that assimilative motivation is largely responsible for the development of native-like speech in both first and second languages. Analysis of anecdotal evidence of early bilingual development, studies of dialect acquisition, bilingual immersion programs, and studies of language pidginization illustrating the development of…

A collection of papers on neurolinguistics includes: "Communication Strategies in Aphasia" (Elisabeth Ahlsen); "Speech Planning in the Light of Stuttering" (Ann-Marie Alme); "L. S. Tsvetkova's Aphasia Rehabilitation Method and Its Applications" (Ritva Hanninen); "Semantic Aphasia and Luria's Neurolinguistic Model" (Birgitta Johnsen); "Aphasic…

The Swedish National Board of Education studied 7,095 youths (mostly immigrants) who left compulsory school in 1979 and who spoke home languages other than Swedish. The part of the study reported on here revealed that no less than 42% of them stated that they always spoke Swedish with at least one parent, while 22% never spoke Swedish with their…

To further investigate the relationship between divergent thinking and bilingualism, 23 Anglos and 108 Mexican Americans from a semi-rural West Texas community and 24 Mexican Americans from San Antonio, enrolled in the fourth grade, of low socioeconomic status, and with an average age of 10 years 6 months, were divided into 5 experimental groups,…