This article explores language learning as the speakers' microlongitudinal project in interaction. Using conversation analysis (CA) as a method, we present a single-case analysis on how a change occurs in the linguistic repertoire of 2 learners of Finnish. We discuss the challenges that the temporal aspect in learning poses within CA, such as the…

Many factors influencing second language (L2) speech fluency have been widely studied, but the effects of first language (L1) fluency on L2 speech fluency are still relatively poorly understood. In contrast to mostly quantitative previous studies, the present study adopted a mixed methods approach to examining the connections between L1 fluency…

Languages vary considerably in how they represent motion. One major source of variation (Talmy, 2000) depends on whether linguistic systems lexicalize path in the verb (verb-framed languages) or in satellites (satellite-framed languages). This typological difference involves more than different verb types in that it also affects elements outside…

Research on multilingual acquisition has investigated various combinations of languages to identify the factors determining how learners express motion. Our research examines the semantics of motion expression in learners whose first language (L1) exhibits more variation than their foreign language (L2/L3). The present study compares upward motion…

This study investigated whether second language (L2) speakers' morphosyntactic pattern learning was predicted by their statistical learning and working memory abilities. Across three experiments, Thai English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students (N = 140) were exposed to either the transitive construction in Esperanto (e.g., "tauro…

This article analyses the styles of English produced by an adult migrant who started to speak the language later in life, and it approaches them from the perspective of quantitative style-shifting and discursive stylization. After defining style and the procedures needed to justify the term "L2," the study describes the focal informant's…

This study investigates cross-linguistic influence (CLI)--also known as first language (L1) transfer--on referent introduction and tracking in oral narratives in Japanese as a second language (L2) within the framework of functional approaches to language learning. Narrative discourse produced by two groups of learners of Japanese, one whose L1 is…

Argues for the importance of phonological form in the second language (L2) classroom, proposing that a thorough grounding in L2 phonological patterns is essential for language learners. Suggests the importance of phonological information for the auditory detection of morphological form in French. (Author/VWL)

The points of similarity between the language and music of a given language are discussed as a theoretical justification for the use of songs in language teaching. (Author/RM)

A general guideline is offered as a reference point to choosing the appropriate preposition (a or par) for French causative sentences with faire. Full noun phrase complements of infinitives are treated. (SW)

Reviews significant endeavors in the teaching of intonation, and outlines a specific technique of the instruction of suprasegmentals. (CLK)

This article is republished from "The Canadian Modern Language Review," 60, 4, pp. 501-526. It is published as an article exchange between the "MLJ" and the "CMLR." The articles for the exchange were selected by committees from the Editorial Board of each journal according to the following criteria: articles of…

Spanish-speaking learners of Portuguese often transfer features of Spanish language to Portuguese. Learner errors, including those caused by Spanish interference, are analyzed by contrasting Portuguese and Spanish grammar. (SW)

A study examined the occurrence of specific grammatical structures (double object pronouns, nominalization with "lo," demonstrative adjectives/pronouns, and possessive adjectives/pronouns) in oral samples of native speaker Spanish and compared the results with the treatment of the structures in six beginning-level college Spanish textbooks.…

A pilot study is described which illustrates a methodology that can be used in determining the relative importance of different error types according to evaluations made by native speakers and presents preliminary results concerning the relative importance attached by native German teenagers to errors committed in German by English speakers. (SW)