This study investigates the effects of native language experience and phonetic properties on the discrimination of labial-velar versus labial and velar contrasts, as well as voicing contrasts in labials, velars, and labial-velars. Research indicates that phonological perceptions are influenced by native language experience and the specific…

Despite the extensive research on bilingual development, our understanding of how lexical competition unfolds in the bilingual mind remains limited. Previous studies have predominantly focused on crosslinguistic competition, neglecting the examination of the competition process within each language and the influence of diverse bilingual…

Despite the growing body of studies on collocation learning in SLA research, there are hardly any studies taking the perspective of the individual learner or studies that have examined the effect of individual differences. This study--a qualitative component of a mixed-methods longitudinal project--presents an in-depth exploration of the intro-…

Prediction-based theories posit that interlocutors use prediction to process language efficiently and to coordinate dialogue. The present study evaluated whether listeners can use spatial deixis (i.e., "this," "that," "these," and "those") to predict the plurality and proximity of a speaker's upcoming…

Drawing on qualitative research, this study explores (1) how Hong Kong university students' existing L1 and L2 affect their learning motivation for an L3 and (2) how an individual's L2 motivation changes because of learning an L3, from a dynamic systems theory perspective. Eight undergraduate students from Hong Kong participated in this study.…

The present study seeks to find the students' performance towards the assigned tasks related to cartoons and their perceptions towards the use of it as an authentic, supplementary teaching tool to facilitate the process of speaking. A sample of thirty-five students was selected to involve in different tasks related to selected number of cartoons.…

The importance of authentic communicative practices in foreign language (FL) learning has long been recognized. However, most FL learners lack adequate access to authentic communicative environments in the target language. In this article, we propose the use of telepresence robots as a potential solution to bridge this gap. Telepresence robots can…

This study investigates how university students in the US and Hong Kong perceive themselves as literate and biliterate beings. All the participants in Hong Kong are biliterate in at least two languages (including Cantonese, Mandarin, and English), whereas only 40% of the U.S. participants are biliterate in at least two languages (including…

This article reports on a case study that investigates the learning preferences and strategies of Chinese students learning English as a second language (ESL) in Canadian school settings. It focuses on the interaction between second language (L2) learning methods that the students have adopted from their previous learning experience in China and…

The present study examines the effects that a 3-week study-abroad (SA) experience and a set of individual differences have on the foreign language (FL) development of a group of 64 Catalan/Spanish speakers, learners of English as an FL. Moreover, the present study attempts to account for the outcome differences between successful and less…

Intelligibility of second language (L2) English has become an important goal in English pronunciation teaching. However, intelligibility research primarily focused on L2 English users and L2 production features; only a handful of studies have examined other effects on the intelligibility of L2 English. In line with the three-part model of…

Extensive reading has long been considered as a potent means for facilitating language acquisition for second language learners, especially in the contexts of primary and secondary schools where students are elementary or intermediate learners. In one of the universities in Hong Kong where English is used as a medium of instruction, the…

This study aims to investigate the vocabulary problems in the academic writing of MA ELT Libyan students in Nottingham Trent University. For this purpose, two research questions were posed and the answers to these questions were provided and discussed. The data for the study were collected via two questionnaires (preliminary and main…