This study explores discourse markers (DMs) as they occur with compliment responses (CRs) in classroom interactions among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Using the tenets of conversation analysis, this paper draws on data from teacher-student interactions in several private language institutes in Iran. After audiorecording…

Chinese directional complement (DC) constructions, as a subtype of Chinese multiword sequences, are challenging to acquire for second language (L2) learners. However, little is known about L2 Chinese learners' acquisition of figurative DCs and their comprehension of literal and figurative DCs. This study investigated whether the acquisition of…

Learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) tend to swap the two characters within a coordinative compound word in verbal identification and written production. This mixed methods study not only investigated how CFL learners identified intercharacter orthographic and semantic relationships within two-morpheme coordinative compound words, but…

The study explored the contribution of prior knowledge and reliance on L1 syntactic knowledge to L2 written sentence comprehension. Participants, 102 native Hebrew speakers at three education levels (junior high, high school, and postsecondary), answered questions in two sentence categories: Semantically plausible sentences that readers can…

The acquisition of verbal morphology presents challenges for many second language (L2) learners, in part because they do not readily process those forms during sentence comprehension. Instead, L2 learners rely on lexical-semantic cues (e.g., temporal adverbs and explicit subjects). This study investigated the role of task-essential training in…

This article reports on an empirical study of refusal strategies in Chinese by native speakers (NS) and nonnative Chinese learners (NNS). Sixty subjects (perceived as "students") were to refuse an invitation by "the professor" to a Chinese New Year's party. The study found that the NS group produced 10 strategies, whereas the…

Sought to determine optimal conditions for learning accurate word usage in Japanese from limited exposure to exemplars. Results indicate that having varied type exemplars that show clear distinctions among semantically similar words promotes accuracy of usage, as measured by learners' ability to extend a word's core meaning to more abstract or…

This paper presents and comments on an experiment on teaching grammar that was started at Gettysburg College (PA). Using a proficiency-based approach, this course uses films as texts that provide a cultural, visual, and linguistic context in which the class functions. (six references) (JL)

Summarizes five theories explaining the relationship between word knowledge and comprehension of text in native language acquisition and explores possible implications for second language researchers and practitioners. (Author/CB)

Discusses a foreign language pedagogy that facilitates teaching for communication and teaching grammar, which is defined as a system for converting meaning into language. The teacher is advised to do in the classroom only what cannot be done elsewhere. Four instructional tactics are described. (SED)

First-semester Spanish students were encouraged to acquire vocabulary through small- and large-group oral activities plus semantic mapping. A second group participated in similar oral activities but did not perform semantic mapping. A comparison of the two groups suggests a trend toward the effectiveness of semantic mapping as a strategy that…

The cloze technique can be used to help word-by-word readers acquire more mature reading strategies. This article provides suggestions for creating and using cloze exercises which vary in difficulty and focus. Recommendations are made for introducing and directing cloze training. Sample exercises are given. (Author/PJM)

This qualitative case study examined the Spanish linguistic needs of working health care professionals. Data from observation field notes, interviews, document analysis, and member checks were coded, triangulated, and analyzed following the premises of grounded theory. Results indicated that participants were able to produce routinely used words…

Argues that reading should be a significant portion of the foreign language student's experience but that, in order for the reading to be an occasion for comprehensible input, the text must be authentic, meaningful to students, and followed by questions which encourage reading for meaning. Gives examples of such questions. (SED)

Describes study developed to measure the effects of structural versus grammar practice using the computer as the practice medium. Data supports contention that retention is a function of the meaningfulness of one's learning experience. Suggests the computer has great potential as practice medium in second language acquisition process. (Author/BK)