Whereas studies show that comprehensible output facilitates L2 learning, hypothesis testing has received little attention in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Following Shehadeh (2003), we focus on hypothesis testing episodes (HTEs) in which learners initiate repair of their own speech in interaction. In the context of a one-way information gap…

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…

Based on a review of the literature on ESP and needs analysis, this paper is intended to offer some theoretical supports and inspirations for BE instructors to develop BE curricula for business contexts. It discusses how the theory of need analysis can be used in Business English curriculum design, and proposes some principles of BE curriculum…

This article focuses on research into academic reading practices of international graduate students in taught Master programmes in a Malaysian university. The purpose of the study was to examine the challenges faced in the academic reading practices as well as the strategies employed to overcome the challenges in the academic reading practices.…

Listening comprehension is usually considered as one of the most difficult language skills to EFL learners due to the unavoidable presence of "reduced forms" in authentic speech. This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of explicit "reduced forms" instruction on Iranian EFL learners' overall listening comprehension…

This study investigated the strategies which first-year Saudi university EFL students used to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words while reading English texts. Using cluster sampling method, participants chosen to be included in the study consisted of six male and six female classes (120 male and 120 female students) of the preparatory year…

Malaysia has come to a point where second and third languages become part of the requirements to be employed especially in the multinational and international companies. After gaining its Independence, English becomes the second language in Malaysia, and Bahasa Melayu is recognised as the official language of the country. This move has greatly…

Self-regulated learning strategies have recently received a remarkable attention by researchers. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and students' language proficiency as well as their reading comprehension. To do so, 115 Iranian EFL university students were selected. First, a TOEFL test…

The aim of this study was an attempt to investigate the use of conjunctions in argumentative essays written by English as a Foreign Language fourth-year undergraduate Libyan students majoring in English at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Libya. A corpus of 32 argumentative essays was collected from a sample of 16 students in order to be investigated…

The article deals with regional experience in using modern strategies in teaching gifted children. The value of project and research activity is actualized as one of the most effective educational technologies in work with gifted children. The article shows examples of organization of combined project and research activities of student-teachers…

Studies have indicated that, less affluent families are less likely to have the financial and or time availability to provide their children with academic support compared to affluent families. This study investigated the relationship between Language Learning Strategies used by secondary school students in Nigeria and their Parents Socio-economic…

Cross-language transfer is the extent, if any, to which phonological awareness in L1 facilitates learning to read in L2. This has been an area of investigation wherein researchers looked into the orthographic and phonological component processing skills L2 learners develop and utilize to facilitate word recognition. Given the difference between…

The article by Amaral and Roeper (this issue; henceforth A&R) presents many interesting ideas about first and second language acquisition as well as some experimental data convincingly illustrating the difference between production and comprehension. The article extends the concept of Universal Bilingualism proposed in Roeper (1999) to second…

In three experiments, we examine the effects of semantic context and word concreteness on the mapping of existing meanings to new words. We developed a new-word-learning paradigm in which participants were required to discover the meaning of a new-word form from a specific verbal context. The stimulus materials were manipulated according to word…

We present the outcomes of a pronunciation training program conducted in a workplace setting with second language speakers who had lived in an English-speaking environment for an average of 19 years. The research questions concerned whether improvement would occur in the learners' perception of certain segments and prosody; in the…