This article reports on a study exploring the associations between foreign language anxiety and the effectiveness of immediate and delayed corrective feedback (CF) in the acquisition of the English past tense. One hundred and two middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners responded to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale…

The present study compared individual and collaborative vocabulary learning through two types of reading-based pedagogical tasks in an online elementary Arabic classroom. Fifty-two beginner learners of Arabic completed a pretest, a story-based task (either multiple-choice or gap-fill) with embedded novel vocabulary, and two posttests over a 2-week…

The present study examined the impact of pedagogical intervention on students' request performance during short-term study abroad (SA). Prior to departure, students received explicit instruction about requests. During their time abroad, they were given tasks to strategically develop their pragmatic competence. Requests were assessed with a…

Studies with U.S. secondary second language (L2) learners have revealed individual differences (IDs) in first language (L1) skills and L2 aptitude and shown that these IDs are related to L2 achievement and proficiency. In this study, U.S. students were administered measures of L1 achievement, L1 cognitive processing, and L2 aptitude; followed…

Previous research on foreign language classroom participation has shown that oral production has a privileged status compared to less salient forms of participation, such as mental involvement and engagement in class activities. This mixed-methods study presents an alternative look at classroom participation by investigating the relationship…

Using a Chinese Word Associates Test (WAT-C), this study examined the vocabulary depth of second language learners of Chinese and its contribution to the learners' reading comprehension. Results showed no significant effects of word frequency, word class (i.e., adjectives vs. verbs), and type of association relationships (i.e., paradigmatic vs.…

This study investigated how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' types of language for thinking and types of oral elicitation tasks influence their lexical collocational errors in speech. Data were collected from 42 English majors in Taiwan using two instruments: (1) 3 oral elicitation tasks and (2) an inner speech questionnaire. The…

Minimal research has been conducted in reading Chinese as a second/ foreign language (CSI/CFL). In an effort to further the understanding of the reading process, this study, utilizing think aloud and retelling procedures, focuses on the identification of strategies that American university students applied to read Chinese texts (narrative and…

Discusses how linguistic comparisons can be incorporate into foreign language classroom activities. draws on Slobin's (1996) experimental study, which demonstrated the existence of "the thinking for speaking" form of thought and argues that teaching foreign language entails teaching novel "thinking for speaking operations. (Author/VWL)

Investigated text-centered talk in an introduction to Hispanic literature university level classroom. Framed within sociocultural theory, the study aimed to establish the nature of classroom talk in the college level foreign language bridge course. Aimed to clarify the relationship between cognitive processes and language acquisition in a foreign…

Describes a study comparing the translation of cognates from French into English by more-and less skilled bilinguals. More-skilled bilinguals experienced significantly greater translation intervals than less-skilled bilinguals, suggesting that a new model unique to the cognate must be considered. (Author/VWL)

Examines the hypothesis that second language learning at the elementary school level results in an increased development of the potential creativity of children. (RL)

One of the advantages of having students work in pairs on language-related tasks is that teachers and researchers can listen to what the students say as they carry out their assigned tasks. What they say offers insights into the students' beliefs about the target language they are learning and using, and reflects the cognitive processes they use…

Cognitive sciences are discovering many things that educators have always intuitively known about language learning. However, the important point is actively using this new information to improve both students learning and current teaching practices. The implications of neuroscience for educational reform regarding second language (L2) learning…

Presents a method which draws upon students' imagination, creativity, and associative abilities and engages them in the language learning process. (Author/AM)