The present study examines the effect of feedback (FB) and feedforward (FF) in prosody instruction for developing listening comprehension skills in the nonnative language by interpreter trainees, using a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design. Three groups of 25 interpreter trainees at Bu-Ali Sina University in Iran took part in the study, all…

This study investigates the effect of an instructional design for medical Chinese, which incorporates research findings from Conversation Analysis (CA) and uses authentic doctor-patient consultations in primary-care visits as teaching materials. The goal of the instruction is to develop students' interpersonal communicative competence in medical…

This study reports on a small-scale, longitudinal investigation on L2 Spanish oral development by English-home language (EHL) learners in an English/Spanish Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program in rural, eastern United States. It examined EHL learners' oral ability in L2 Spanish based on longitudinal assessment data from Kindergarten, Grade 2, and…

Second language (L2) learners can assess their oral skills with some accuracy. A question is whether learners can reliably use self-assessment to track their language gains over time. During the spring of two subsequent years, 80 university L2 Chinese learners completed an oral skills self-assessment based on the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements…

Sequencing language production activities based on the inherent cognitive load of each activity type can improve student performance and self-efficacy on high cognitive load language tasks like conversational speech (either face-to-face or via video chat). This ordering according to cognitive difficulty can scaffold learners in their development…

This article reflects on the literacy turn in collegiate foreign language (FL) programs, taking as its central argument that the focus in FL curriculum, instruction, and research should not be on the content we teach, be it language, literature, or culture, but rather on textual thinking and literacies development. After providing a snapshot of…

The 2007 Modern Language Association report spurred research regarding the professional development of foreign language graduate students. This article first reviews existing proposals for the professional development of graduate students, then addresses the relevance of helping graduate students to develop the knowledge and skills that are needed…

In response to the call for improving teacher candidates' familiarity with the assessment tasks and format of the edTPA (Hildebrandt & Swanson, 2014), this single case study investigated the reflective writing development of Jena, a K-12 Spanish teacher candidate, and her evolution in a pedagogy that focused on the development of writing two…

Students, their parents, and educators trust that a study-abroad experience is the best way to increase linguistic proficiency. The professional literature, however, shows a much more complex picture. Gains in linguistic proficiency appear to depend on variables such as whether the students experience a homestay or dormitory, the length of time…

Increasing numbers of students are opting for study abroad programs of 2 months or less while research on study abroad generally focuses on semester- or year-long programs. This study quantitatively examines changes in students' spoken Spanish after 6 weeks in Argentina using native speaker ratings of student speech. The researcher then uses…

In U.S. public schools, the population of nonnative speakers of English who are at risk for failing language requirements is growing. This article presents multisensory structured language (MSL) teaching strategies to remediate these students' difficulties in reading, writing, and speaking English. These strategies are underscored by recent…

This study investigates the role of social interaction in language gain among study abroad students in France. Using the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), the Can-Do self-assessment scale (Clark, 1981), a revised version of the Language Contact Profile (LCP; Freed, Dewey, Segalowitz, & Halter, 2001), and pre- and postdeparture…

This qualitative study focused on the learning experiences of four third-year Spanish student enrolled in a college-level Spanish composition and conversation course. The study provided insights into the impact of expanding out-of-class opportunities to engage in communicative task through the use of streamed feature films, online chats, and video…

Provides sample listening comprehension and oral production activities in Spanish that teachers can use to help students develop sociolinguistic competence and skills. The exercises highlight native speakers' linguistic choices in different situations and focus on their use of deference markers. (Author/CB)

Self-help activities designed to practice and improve communication are outlined. Sixteen learning activities are proposed that are based on assertiveness training. They can be used on all language levels to develop all four skills. (Author/AMH)