Lexical access was examined in English-Spanish bilinguals by monitoring eye fixations on target and lexical competitors as participants followed spoken instructions in English to click on one of the objects presented on a computer (e.g., "Click on the beans"). Within-language lexical competitors had a phoneme onset in English that was shared with…

This paper forms part of a wider research project which examines how the Kantian concept of "Mundigkeit" or "maturity" may be represented in subjective accounts of language learning, known as "language learner narratives". It is shown that the metaphors used in these texts frequently do not so much represent congenial relations of hospitality…

In this paper we present an unsupervised neural network model of bilingual lexical development and interaction. We focus on how the representational structures of the bilingual lexicons can emerge, develop, and interact with each other as a function of the learning history. The results show that: (1) distinct representations for the two lexicons…

The present study takes as a point of departure Becker's analysis of the copula "be" in English monolingual data and focuses on the distribution of copula "be" in the data from two English/Spanish bilingual children. Our data analysis shows that, as in Becker's study, the distribution of copula omission in the bilingual data is determined by the…

Our paper introduces a new initiative on a common computer program used as a cognitive tool that facilitates learning "with" as opposed to learning "through" technology. The tool, which comprises a modification of a so-called boilerplate, is part of a joint learning system (Kim and Reeves, 2007) in which the tool, learner and activity are equal…

This paper investigates how syntactic knowledge interfaces with other cognitive systems by analysing the production of postverbal subjects, V(erb)-S(ubject) order, in an L1 Spanish-L2 English corpus and a comparable English native corpus. VS order in both native and L2 English is shown to be constrained by properties operating at three interfaces:…

Knowing a foreign language has become crucial to reach information. Learning vocabulary is the fundamental step to learn a foreign language. New devices are invented everyday to fulfill the needs of citizens of the twenty-first century. Increased use of mobile phones has made them popular for not only communication, but also entertainment and…

This experimental study offers empirical evidence of the effect of the computer-mediated environment on the linguistic output of low proficiency learners. The subjects were 32 female undergraduates with high and low proficiency in ESL. A within-subject repeated measures concurrent nested QUAN-qual (Creswell, 2003) mixed methods approach was used.…

It is suggested that the value of projected cuts in UK higher education spending should be redirected to fund start-up entrepreneurial universities as part of a strategy for knowledge-based economic growth. Two specific elements of academic entrepreneurial redesign are outlined: the Professor of Practice, linking university and industry through…

This article explores the role of the psychological construct of "implicit theories" or "mindsets" in the context of foreign language learning. It considers psychology-based research of the construct in respect to the EFL context and reports on a small exploratory study using interviews carried out with tertiary-level learners…

This paper uses the interactional spoken data contained in the Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech (SCOTS) to investigate "friendly" language and shows how its principles can inform a model of language for learners of English as a second or foreign language. Pragmatic markers used in local speech varieties are in danger of being neglected in an…

The Newcomer Booklet has become a popular classroom activity among ESL teachers at many different levels and with many types of learners. In this article, we explore why this is the case and why this type of project works so well for a particular population of English language learners, those with limited or interrupted formal schooling. We…

Following the Dearing Report on the provision and teaching of modern languages in England, there has been a drive to establish the teaching of modern languages in primary schools throughout England. This article looks at how the teaching of modern languages in the primary school (MLPS) in Scotland has developed since 1989--when the first pilot…

This article report on the development and use of an analytical framework intended to map the language demands encountered by English learners as they engage in science performance assessments. Grounded in functional and interactional views of language and language use, the authors--two science education researchers and a language…

This study explored learning and retention of concrete nouns in second language Spanish by first language English undergraduates (N = 128). Each completed a learning style (visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic, mixed) assessment, took a vocabulary pretest, and then studied 12 words each through three conditions (matching, mismatching, mixed…