We investigated how learner factors, such as vocabulary proficiency, strategy use, and working memory, are associated with successful corpus-based second language (L2) vocabulary learning, in which learners are encouraged to analyze and explore large, structured collections of authentic language data (i.e., corpora) to resolve their lexical issues…

In this study I examine the construct of aptitude in learning Chinese as a second language (L2) to an advanced level. I test 2 hypotheses: first, that L2 aptitude comprises 4 components--working memory, rote memory, grammatical sensitivity, and phonemic coding ability--and second, that L2 aptitude affects learning both directly and indirectly…

This article considers whether the use of specific communication strategies can improve learners' English proficiency in communicative tasks. Japanese college students (n= 62) participated in a 12-week course of English lessons using a communicative approach with strategy training. To investigate the influence of specific strategy use, their…

This article reports on a study that analysed life history accounts of language learning. The key aim of the study was to understand how the experience of language learning was discursively constructed through recourse to particular cultural worlds and narrative strategies. The study contributes to the growing field of research using language…

This study examines possible connections between second language competency and frequency and type of gesture use (illustrators, compensatory illustrators, adaptors, emblems, regulators, and affect displays). To this end, 75 students enrolled in beginning, intermediate, and advanced college-level Spanish courses were videotaped while conversing in…

Listening in a second or foreign language is a very demanding task because it involves both correctly interpreting incoming speech and responding appropriately to the speaker. This qualitative classroom-based investigation describes the types and frequency of reception strategies used by learners at three different proficiency levels in French…

Describes study conducted using high school foreign language students to identify and examine effects on learning of three learning strategies--practicing, monitoring, and inferencing. Results suggest strategies have positive role in classroom, but their use is related to attitude not aptitude of language learner.

Discusses variables affecting the choice of learning strategies used by university foreign-language students (n=1,200). Research questions address the kind of strategies university foreign-language students report using and what variables influence the use of these strategies. (64 references) (Author/OD)

This study examines current patterns of oral communication strategy (OCS) use, to what degree these strategies can be explicitly taught, and the extent to which strategy use can lead to improvements in oral communication ability. In a 12-week English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course based on a communicative approach, 62 female learners were…

Discusses an experiment in testing college students in France on their recall of newly learned English words in order to compare the advantages and disadvantages of context and translation learning as a function of learner proficiency. Results reveal a superiority of translation learning in terms of quantity, but an inability of weaker learners to…

Examines the effects of aptitude, field independence, attitude, and strategy use upon four areas of language achievement: formal/oral, formal/written, functional/oral, and functional/written. Test results indicated that aptitude and field independence are related, as are strategy use and attitude; only aptitude and strategy use, however, affect…

Foreign summer language programs offer many advantages to students, but students may only receive superficial contact with the host culture and language and may be motivated only by their wish to have a memorable experience abroad. Suggestions are presented to ensure academic validity of such programs in the areas of motivation, academic credit,…