A study examined language transfer among low-intermediate English-as-second language students in an academic English development course at a California community college. Thirteen adult immigrant students who had higher first-language proficiency made better progress in academic English than did nine students who immigrated at a younger age and…

Investigates the relationship between metalinguistic awareness and second language (L2) proficiency of university-level learners of French. Learners' performances on two grammaticality judgment tests and on a test of L2 proficiency were examined in the context of demands made upon these two components according to whether the learners had been…

Investigates how and to what degree English is used in specific elite domains in Sweden through analysis of language requirements needed to participate in undergraduate and graduate programs at competitive institutions and language qualifications and language use patterns in elite professions. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the developing metalinguistic capabilities of Hispanic primary school children who are becoming bilingual but whose English achievement is below average. Examines whether native and second-language vocabulary and degree of bilingualism contribute to performance on a bilingual task, and whether native- and second-language vocabulary…

Observed a beginning-level Japanese language class of eight students taught by satellite at a high school in the United States during one academic year. Investigated students' learning experience, motivation and attitudes towards Japanese speakers and learning Japanese, language skill development, student-teacher interaction, and broadcast…

Investigates the knowledge of multiple wh-questions such as "Who ate what?" by high-proficiency Japanese speakers of English. Acceptability judgments were obtained on six different types of questions. Acceptability of English examples was rated by native speakers of English, Japanese examples were judged by native speakers of Japanese,…

This article reports on an introspective study that examined the effect of EFL learners' L2 reading proficiency on their L2 lexical inferencing while reading an English expository text. The knowledge sources and contextual cues they used in the process, the level of success they achieved, and their rate of learning and retention of the inferred…

This study investigates performance on oral tasks across two groups of francophone learners with different ESL instruction. It reports on second language (L2) ability gains in intensive instruction and regular instruction. To date, gains in oral proficiency have not been reported in such programs, nor has there been a comparison across two…

In face-to-face teaching, the educator is able to directly mediate learning and gauge the level of the learners' English proficiency. Teleteaching makes this virtually impossible, as learners are invisible and thus immediate intervention in learning or estimations of proficiency are much more difficult to achieve. TELETUKS Schools 1--a community…

Second-language acquisition theorists caution educators that higher second-language competency skills can take anywhere from five to eight years to attain realistically for any individual acquiring competency in a second language. There are many other variables like age of arrival in the United States and standard of education from home country…

There is a growing volume of research on task-based language use; however, the nature of "task proficiency" has not yet been clearly defined. In order to gain new insights, this study examines the relationship between the process of communication in an L2 and a task outcome by analysing lexical density, as obtained from the pattern of a…

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is an aptitude test, thought to reflect intelligence or the capacity to learn (Larsen & Buss, 2003). It is a standardized admission exam designed to predict performance in graduate school through verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning questions. The GRE Board encourages graduate schools,…

A structural equation model of second language (L2; English) reading comprehension was tested on a sample of 135 Spanish-speaking 4th-grade English-language learners (ELLs). The model included 2 levels: decoding and oral language. English decoding measures included alphabetic knowledge and fluency. English oral language measures included…

This paper treats methodological issues involved in assessing linguistic competence in the field, specifically in bilingual fieldwork situations. First, the various means of assessment of linguistic competence that have been described and/or used are listed and commented on. Then the authors explain the choice of assessment methods for fieldwork…

Bilingual speakers report experiencing stronger emotions when speaking and hearing their first language compared to their second. Does this occur even when a second language is learned early and becomes the dominant language? Spanish-English bilinguals who had grown up in the USA (early learners) or those who were first exposed to English during…