In this experiment we evaluate phonetic training as a tool for language learning. Specifically, we take a group of native speakers (NS) of English (n = 24) currently enrolled in Arabic classes at American universities, and evaluate the effectiveness of a high variability phonetic training program (HVPT) to improve their perception of a difficult…

We investigated the effects of instruction method and cross-language similarity during second language (L2) grammar learning. English speakers learned a subset of Swedish using contrast and color highlighting (Salience Group), contrast and highlighting with grammatical explanations (Rule & Salience Group), or neither (Control Group with…

Discourses of globalization and cosmopolitanism, focusing on the rapid flows of people, resources, and knowledge around the globe and subsequent encounters between global citizens, present a binary between "global" and "local." At the same time educational theories, perhaps especially in the areas of language and literacy…

This article examines second language (L2) learner knowledge of English verb-argument constructions (VACs), for example, the "V 'against' n" construction. It investigates to what extent constructions underpin L2 learners' linguistic competence, how VAC mental representations in native speakers and learners differ, and…

This article introduces a new construct coined as Computer User Learning Aptitude (CULA). To establish construct validity, CULA is embedded in a nomological network that extends the technology acceptance model (TAM). Specifically, CULA is posited to affect perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, the two underlying TAM constructs.…

Narrative research in language teaching and learning (LTL) is concerned with the stories teachers and learners tell about their lived and imagined experiences. Teachers typically tell about their professional development and their practices, and learners about their experiences of learning and using languages. What stories are, and indeed what…

In the past quarter century, Hungary has offered fertile ground for innovative developments in foreign language (FL) education. The appropriate, albeit disparaging, label applied to Hungary in the mid-1970s--"a land of foreign language illiterates" (Köllo 1978: 6)--no longer applies. In the wake of the dramatic changes of 1989, the…

In this essay Naomi Mulvihill uses vignettes from her bilingual kindergarten classroom to explore the dynamic processes by which young children make sense of language, focusing on instances in which she asks her students to compare texts presented in English and Spanish. Using Piaget's concept of disequilibrium as a guiding framework,…

Needs analysis is a system for gathering and analyzing information about a person's needs. In the case of education, needs analysis forms the basis for developing a curriculum that meets the learning needs of a particular group of students. The purpose of this study is to determine the Turkish language needs of students enrolled in the Turkish…

This study investigated the sub-syllabic awareness of two groups of 86 Korean kindergarteners learning English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL). In addition, it explored the cross-language transfer of sub-syllabic units between Korean and English by taking into account their lexical abilities with respect to the…

The current study examined the age of learning effect on second language (L2) acquisition. The research goals of the study were twofold: to test whether there is an independent age effect controlling for other potentially confounding variables, and to clarify the age effect across L2 grammar and speech production domains. The study included 118…

In 2009 Rupke and Blank noted that the Chinese students in their study sang American songs that the researchers had never heard. This perceived dissonance could have a multitude of causes, but the authors of this article turned their attention to the curriculum used for teaching English in China to further understand the popularity and persistence…

The scoring of constructed responses may introduce construct-irrelevant factors to a test score and affect its validity and fairness. Fatigue is one of the factors that could negatively affect human performance in general, yet little is known about its effects on a human rater's scoring quality on constructed responses. In this study, we compared…

This paper explores three research projects conducted by the writer and others with a view to demonstrating the importance of effective theory and methodology in the analysis of teaching situations where Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), teacher practice and teacher education meet. It argues that there is a tendency in the field of…

Although immigrant youth make up more than 20 percent of school-age children in the U.S., little is known about how they manage school assignments and texts. In this paper the author presents Tara (pseudonym) as a telling case of a first-generation immigrant youth who is encountering and grappling with academic literacy--defined as not only the…