Literature survey concerning the Learner Corpus Research (LCR) in the last 20 years has shown a paucity of studies involving specialised/discipline-specific text. Since the use of discipline-specific academic writing learner corpora is useful in determining the language pattern within the English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) context, this…

Collocations, no matter where to use them, are an important linguistic issue if it is native fluency that is longed for in academic writing. In line with that, the present study aimed at increasing the awareness towards the importance of collocations in order to have native fluency in academic writing; making some suggestions regarding involvement…

The aim of this study is to identify cohesion in the research project abstracts of Thai EFL engineering undergraduate students and to determine the writing patterns of their abstracts. Thirty-nine abstracts (200-300 words in length) from the faculty of Engineering in three different disciplines of the International Program were compiled and…

Understanding the linguistic and rhetorical patterns of an academic discipline strengthens students' abilities to write in professional settings. Data-driven learning and corpus-linguistic methods can increase this understanding and should be considered valuable contributors to any writing curriculum. In this paper, I present a case history on…

This review article evaluates the intersection of the content of two recent anthologies in second language (L2) phonology. One of the books lays out both the methodological context and theoretical underpinnings of the field, whereas the other volume reports 11 empirical studies on the L2 acquisition of several aspects of pronunciation by adult…

Presents an analysis of the structure of a German conversation, detailing the complexity of culturally and situationally appropriate structure and meaning in casual conversational discourse. The pedagogical implications suggested through first-year classroom activities are explored. (23 references) (Author/CB)

Examines the implications of connectionist models of cognition for second-language theory, in which all knowledge is embodied in a network of simple processing units joined by connections that are strengthened or weakened in response to regularities in input patterns. A connectionist framework is proposed within which hypotheses about…

The applicability of transferability principles to language contact in the British Isles, especially Ireland, is shown with a detailed discussion of absolute constructions, structures with interesting relations between syntax and discourse, and with susceptibility to cross-linguistic influence. Evidence for transferability of absolutes in…

A reassessment of the role of negative evidence in nonnative language acquisition argues that the grammar-building process cannot make use of negative evidence to restructure interlanguage grammars, and that second-language learners do not unlearn verb movement but extend the pattern with which they are already familiar. (46 references) (Author/CB)

Discusses various definitions of markedness in terms of second language acquisition and describes a study testing one such definition which found that second language learners did not accept preposition stranding in the second language but did accept double object construction and suggested that transfer took place only with one of two marked…

Explores the possibility of establishing predictability models for interference as well as ascertaining the degree of competence adult second language learners could achieve before being able to eliminate interference in production of the target language. (CB)

Examination of the pattern of word stress in Nigerian Standard English suggests that progressive stress shift is the primary cause of the difference in stress assignment between Nigerian Standard English and British Standard English. (13 references) (Author/CB)

With respect to the ultimate goal for limited English proficient students, it would appear that the policy of transitional bilingual education in the United States is explicitly non-bilingual, incorporating a minimalist form of bilingualism for the period students are in the programs, and viewing the first language as only instrumental insofar as…

Reviews the different categories of native pauses and describes techniques for incorporating them cautiously into the spoken French of anglophones (especially Americans), suggesting that proper pause behavior is actually a definite mark of authentic sounding and well-controlled speech. (Author/CB)

Explores some of the suggestive research on metaphor and extrapolates some general implications for second language learning and teaching. Communicating effectively in a second language involves one's ability to metaphorize. Moreover, the understanding of metaphor makes the learning process more meaningful for the student. (CB)