This dissertation is a quantitative analysis of language proficiencies through the lens of the dynamic model of multilingualism, using survival analysis to evaluate time until thresholds of foreign language proficiency are reached and nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon signed rank and Kruskal-Wallis) to compare proficiencies at distinct time intervals…

ESL writing teachers face the challenge of providing written feedback that is both effective and motivating to students. Thus, many end up making use of praise (or positive feedback) before offering criticism. Only limited research has examined how students perceive praise, and few studies among the most recent have focused on praise above other…

The present study examines the impact of both short vowels and context on adult native English speakers' reading accuracy of Arabic orthography. To this end, two groups of adult Arabic learners with different proficiency levels were recruited: 30 second-year, and 30 third-year learners. Subjects were instructed to read 50 isolated words, 20…

This study draws on conceptual and methodological insights afforded within a dynamic systems perspective to explore shifting interrelationships between cognitive capacity and motivational resources in instructed adult second language (L2) learners of Spanish at increasing proficiency. Relationships that emerged showed both stability and…

The present study investigates the possibilities for adult learners to attain nativelikeness in the domain of lexis. Aspects investigated are general lexical knowledge (C-test), receptive deep knowledge, productive collocation knowledge, and productive lexico-pragmatic knowledge in a group of long-residency Swedish French second language (L2)…

Few adult second language (L2) learners successfully attain high-level proficiency. Although decades of research on beginning to intermediate stages of L2 learning have identified a number of predictors of the rate of acquisition, little research has examined factors relevant to predicting very high levels of L2 proficiency. The current study,…

In addition to learning to read and write for the first time, adult English language learners with limited or emerging literacy skills must acquire oral English. Often, learners with limited print literacy in their first language have oral skills in English that exceed their English literacy skills (Geva & Zadeh, 2006). While this mismatch of oral…

This qualitative research study explores key challenges and literacy needs of adults from war-affected backgrounds. Poverty, stress and anxiety, years of formal education, and lack of English language proficiency were cited by the adult learners as barriers to fulfilling their potential. This study also presents perspectives of teachers who have…

In a report on meeting the language needs of refugees in Ireland, Little (2000) identifies two sets of language rights for refugees--stemming from the right to preserve their own language or languages as a central element of identity, and the right to enjoy free access to Irish society which entails the right to develop language proficiency in…

Presents evidence of generalizations concerning the relationship between age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition: (1) adults proceed faster than children in early stages, (2) older children acquire second language faster than younger children, and (3) acquirers exposed to second languages during childhood achieve higher…

This report and the companion backgrounder "Supporting Persons with Disabilities in Post-Secondary Education" represents the work of the "Foundational Learning and Diversity" sub-committee. Within the larger context and framework of "A Learning Alberta," the sub-committee focused on identifying priorities for…

Recent studies in productive phonology among immigrants have supported the case for the existence of a critical or sensitive period in language acquisition. The present study proposes that the case for a sensitive period would be further strengthened by the discovery of comparable age effects for other linguistic abilities such as listening…

This paper describes the functional-notional approach to language teaching and learning in terms of the ways it can be used to meet the communicative needs of the potential language learners, particularly adults, who vary in what they want to do in the target language. It contrasts the functional system with conventional approaches, illustrates…

Three experimental studies were carried out to examine the ability of groups of learners of English as a second language to solve problems of deductive reasoning (three term linear syllogisms) in their native and second languages. In the first study involving Canadian francophones studying English, subjects solved problems more effectively in…