Explores factors affecting the ease or difficulty with which new words are learned in a second language, focusing on such intralexical factors as pronuncability, length, parts of speech, inflexional complexity, derivational complexity, semantic features, abstractedness, specificity, idomaticity, register restrictions, and multiple meaning. (52…

A review of theories and research regarding cognitive psychology and second-language acquisition discusses Krashen's monitor model (1982), Pienemann's teachability hypothesis (1985), variation theory, the structural syllabus, and grammatical prototypes. (29 references) (CB)

This study examined interactive and traditional teaching methods in beginning-level French-as-a-Foreign-Language classes, focusing on the repetition behavior of learners. Contains 11 references. (MDM)

Examines the lexical errors made by students learning French as a foreign language, and proposes a new method for teaching vocabulary based on a lexical disambiguation model. (15 references) (JL)

Comparison of human and machine French translations of independent clauses from an English journal article about physics found that automatic translation was generally faithful to the original thematization, although English complexities and lexical gaps caused the machine to lose, create, and garble some themes. The human translation, although…

Discusses the acquisition of foreign languages closely related to the learner's native language. The article argues that the transfer of elements from the native language plays a crucial role in the learning process. Results indicate that the native language hinders the learning process and that the lack of contrast blurs the linguistic structures…

Describes the clanger phenomenon (disruption or redirection of conversation caused by an interactionally aggressive utterance), and reexamines and more closely defines it in terms of foreign language learners' needs and language use. (CB)

A review of the development and interaction of research involving second language contrastive analysis, error analysis, and interlanguage demonstrates how different assumptions and theoretical preconceptions have affected the results of such research, and the degree to which the research areas have drawn on the other areas. (39 references) (CB)

This paper discusses recent research on second-language learning and argues that "prior knowledge" does not necessarily constitute the basis of comprehension in second-language learning, that "comprehended input" does not have to be "learner-controlled," and that "input" and "intake" are not necessarily two fundamentally different phenomena.…

Examined the oral performance of midcourse and endcourse adult American learners of Russian to determine the accuracy order of Russian cases and demonstrated an order of accuracy common to both groups. According to decreasing accuracy, the Russian cases cluster in three rank orders: (1) prepositional and accusative; (2) genitive and instrumental;…

Discusses the different theoretical perspectives concerning input data to second-language (L2) learners, and examines the learners contributions to input and the interactions between what learners take in themselves and what is given to them. (58 references) (GLR)

Discusses do-support errors in English made by second-language learners. Also presented are the main lines of argument in explaining this type of error from first-language research, after which, the shortcomings from these arguments are assessed. (33 references) (GLR)

Investigates the role of elicitation tasks on the linguistic performance of Persian learners learning English in a nonnative speaking environment. The purpose is to investigate whether learners' interlanguage ranges along a continuum or whether it shifts between two opposing poles of monitored/unmonitored varieties. (29 references)

Examines the technical, linguistic, and pedagogical aspects of the use of broadcast videotex, the simultaneous televising of pictures and sound with subtitles, in linguistic education. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the use of broadcast videotex to assist the linguistically handicapped, educate foreign-language learners, and aid…

Discusses the science of pronunciation teaching and learning, a science that deals with the theory and practice of conditions and possibilities of acquiring the pronunciation of a foreign language. Looks at the causes and forms of pronunciation impairments. (SED)