This paper compares explicit instruction in second-language Spanish with a control treatment on a written picture description task and a timed auditory grammaticality judgment task. Participants came from two intact, third-year US high school classes, with one experiencing a week of communicative lessons on the Spanish clitic "se"…

Addresses a long-standing assumption that presenting new second language (L2) vocabulary in semantically grouped sets is an effective method of teaching. Discusses findings in terms of theoretical models of second language lexical representation and development, as well as in more practical terms of L2 curriculum design and vocabulary instruction.…