This study compared the performance of English-speaking children attending French schools (bilingual group) on phonological awareness tests with same age English-speaking children attending English schools. Results of the study are interpreted to reflect the role of second-language input in phonological awareness. (JL)

Conducted a survey of college French as a foreign language students' reactions to narrow listening, the repeated listening of tape-recorded interviews of proficient speakers discussing a topic both familiar and interesting to the acquirers, and their assessment of its impact on their language development. Students found narrow listening to be…

In response to criticism of his study of input processing and processing instruction, a relatively new concept in second language teaching, the author discusses a number of issues raised, including concepts underlying input processing, methodological concerns, instructional materials used in the study, the concept "traditional instruction," use of…

Investigated incidental language-learning by subjects using multimedia as a self-study and mandatory component of an undergraduate module. Language items recalled and reused while subjects were engaged in a meaning-focused task were compared with those in two multimedia applications for evidence of incidental learning. Analysis compared language…

Investigates the relative effects of two types of input modification--simplification and elaboration--on Korean high school students' English-as-a-foreign-language reading comprehension. Six English passages in one of three forms were presented to 180 students, who were divided into two proficiency levels. Comprehension was assessed using a…

This paper presents and discusses some longitudinal observations of a case study of multilingual language acquisition from birth to the age of five. The analyses are based on data provided from written observations and audio recordings made on a regular basis. The child in this study is acquiring two minority languages at home and the two official…

The acquisition of case and gender marking on the definite and indefinite article was studied in a sample of 6 normally-hearing children and 9 children with cochlear implants. Longitudinal spontaneous speech data are used. Children were matched by MLU, with 4 MLU levels: 1.8, 2.8, 3.6, 4.8. Age ranges for normally-hearing children were 1;4 to 3;8…

Interaction has been argued to promote noticing of L2 form in a context crucial to learning--when there is a mismatch between the input and the learner's interlanguage (IL) grammar (Gass & Varonis, 1994; Long, 1996; Pica, 1994). This paper investigates the extent to which learners may notice native speakers' reformulations of their IL grammar in…

This paper identifies a feature of human brain neural nets that may be described as the principle of ease of processing (PEP), and that, it is argued, is the primary force guiding a learner towards a target grammar. It is suggested that the same principle lies at the heart of Optimality Theory, which characterizes the course of language…

After many years of attention to input that supplies classroom second language (L2) learners with positive evidence on L2 forms and features, recent studies have begun to identify and describe the negative evidence in "reactive" input, provided through interlocutor responses to forms and features that are used by learners, but are not…

Investigated the effects of text modification and task on incidental learning of foreign-language vocabulary by reading. The study focuses on how different cue types and a task would affect processing of input, initial learning, and retention of the meaning of target words. Results indicate that single and multiple-choice marginal gloss conditions…

Addresses, from a neurobiological perspective, the input-intake distinction commonly made in applied linguistics and the role of selective attention in transforming input to intake. The study places primary emphasis upon a neural structure (the nucleus reticularis thalami) that appears to be essential for selective attention. (79 references)…

Discusses aspects of context from a relevance-theoretic perspective and considers how this may lead to a better understanding of how language learners recover verbal input. Proposes that the way context is defined affects (1) the relationship between knowledge of language and context and (2) the way speakers access assumptions in everyday…

Presents the sources and solutions of listening-comprehension anxiety as reported by foreign-language students and discusses the pedagogical implications that relate to the results. (Author/VWL)

Clarifies the teaching of academic language functions (ALFs) at the secondary level. It is recommended that teaching should emphasize concepts underlyng ALFs, the forms for realizing them, and their names. Some pedagogic implications of the microfunction-macrofunction difference are outlined, and suggestions are given for teaching each type. (25…