This edited collection provides a state-of-the art overview of research on willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second and foreign language. In particular, it includes innovative studies seeking to demonstrate the ways in which WTC can be examined within the framework of complex dynamic systems, how the construct is related to self-assessment,…

This established text--now revised and updated--reveals how spoken language skills are acquired and how they affect children's later reading and writing achievement. With a unique focus on the needs of educators, the book examines the foundations of language in the developing brain. It explores the relationship of language processes to core…

The social psychological constructs postulated by Garner, Clement et al. are integrated into a proposed new framework of second/foreign language (L2) learning motivation. The proposed model comprises three levels: language, learner, and learning situation. Practical examples for motivating L2 learners are presented. (55 references) (LB)

Two questions are examined: the relationship between prior to formal experience (high school instruction) and success on university foreign language proficiency tests, and the similarity of prior experience to pass rates for students of varying languages. (LB)

A study of predictors of reading comprehension in English as a second language had as subjects 33 adult students in full-time intensive English classes at the intermediate and advanced levels of reading. Each was tested with an oral and a written language inventory, and each response was recorded as syntagmatic or paradigmatic. Other tests…

The paper considers the effects of study abroad on student second language acquisition (SLA) and suggests areas for further study. It begins with an overview of current research on study abroad, its relationship to foreign language programs, and the innovations that this growing research base holds for program development. Attention then turns to…

A study investigated the language transfer hypothesis in the specific area of second-language spelling. Data collected from 84 secondary school students learning Spanish as a second language show that in general, performance in English spelling is the best predictor of performance in Spanish spelling. Other variables included performance on a…

A study of the relationship of learner characteristics to success in beginning English examined the language aptitude, learning motivation and attitudes, spatial relations, study habits, and years of English instruction of 97 seventh-grade students in a Thai government school. The analysis focused on these variables as they related to the…