This systematic review aims to explore how task complexity and task sequencing affect the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of second language performance. Through an analysis of studies conducted between 2012 and 2021, this review investigates the characteristics of the studies, operationalisation of task complexity, measurements of CAF,…

During the Spanish Golden Age, language was developing fast. An important debate on orthology and orthography was taking place at the time. Many authors posed different proposals for a reform of spelling. The arguments discussed in these works also included educational considerations in favour of their proposals, which makes them an invaluable…

A review of studies on children's syntactic development in Spanish focused on their use of subordinate clauses within complex sentences. Results suggested that, although they made some developmental gains from 2 years of age, 10-year-olds had not acquired the full range of semantic and syntactic expression characteristic of adult use of…

Analyzes three recent models of phonological representation (underspecification theory, autosegmental spreading of features, and feature hierarchy), focusing on such diachronic and synchronic issues of Spanish phonology as the rule of voicing of voiceless obstruents, vowel raising cum desyllabification, homorganic nasal/lateral assimilation, and…

Explores data regarding the elision and epenthesis of the Spanish intervocalic /y/ and the underspecification of Spanish vowels and semivowels. Results lead to the proposal that such elision results from the Obligatory Contour Principle, operating on an autosegmental tier defining front vowels and /y/. (56 references) (CB)

Examines how Spanish is taught to Hispanic bilinguals. Discussion focuses on how the oral proficiency movement directly affects the teaching of native Spanish speakers. Key issues and problems stemming from the language teaching profession's attempts to apply the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Service…

A study of learner-to-learner talk during a Spanish conversation course suggested that an interview-type speaking activity does not necessarily provide negotiation opportunities and provided an example for a speaking activity that promotes negotiation among foreign language learners. (17 references) (Author/CB)

Combinational characterization and statistical and computational techniques for generalizing rule analysis to the inference of rule order are applied to the problems of the reduction of the syllable-final consonants s, n, and r in Caribbean Spanish. Results show that aspiration and deletion can be seen as intrinsically ordered in both s and r…

The dequeismo phenomenon is occurring more frequently in spoken Spanish in both Spain and in Latin America. Introduction of the preposition "de" before "que" in nominal complements exploits one recourse in Spanish, namely the deictic capacity of prepositional "de" as a marker or introducer of the speaker's…

Multiple regression analysis of data regarding college students' oral proficiency in using the present subjunctive after residence in a Spanish-speaking country found a significant positive relationship between length of residence and subjunctive proficiency, and a nonstatistically significant positive relationship between formal study and…

Reviews the literature on the role of background knowledge in second-language listening comprehension, presents findings of pertinent first- and second-language research, and reports on a study showing the importance of schemata in second-language listening comprehension and the role of linguistic knowledge. (34 references) (Author/CB)

In-depth analysis of a large corpus of English and German beginning consonant and syllable stress errors revealed that claims regarding these errors can not be replicated for Spanish, leading to the development of hypotheses focusing on Spanish as a pre-final-stress and syllable-timed language. (38 references) (Author/CB)

A review of research concerning bilingual (English and Spanish) Chicanos' use of code-switching during spontaneous oral narrative indicates that such code-switching may be organized to achieve more dramatic effects through personalizing (as opposed to objectionalizing) certain parts of the narrative and through techniques of foregrounding and…

Examines such universal linguistic phenomena as simplification, overgeneralization, transfer, analysis, and convergence, and their corresponding theories regarding creolization, language acquisition, and language loss. A study of the Spanish verb system of Los Angeles bilinguals indicates that the continuous influx of new Spanish-speaking…

Previous research on Spanish vocabulary for second language instruction has focused primarily on word frequency in a variety of print sources, and has the added disadvantages of being outdated and having too complex a format. A new, computer-based analysis of spoken Spanish from different dialect regions of the world was undertaken to provide more…