The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of perceptual learning style preferences on L2 lexical inferencing and whether learners with certain perceptual learning styles benefited more from an explicitly instructional program. Joy Reid's (1995) Perceptual Learning Style Preferences (PLSP) Inventory and a lexical inferencing test…

This paper examines the relationship of age factor to second language acquisition. Age as an affective factor brings about different performance stages in second as well as first language learning. Traditionally, research in Critical Period Hypothesis and other variables has derived two major aspects of language learning--the younger = the better…

Language learners use different learning strategies, specific actions and behaviors to help them learn, at least partly because their general learning styles, or overall approaches to learning and the environment, are so varied. Learning style encompasses: cognitive style; patterns of attitudes and interests; a tendency to seek situations…

Results of a statistical study of language in 30 infants suggest that two acquisition styles (nominal/pronominal and referential/expressive) are developing in parallel. Only for children heavily emphasizing one strategy can a distinctive style be determined. Results at 20 months were only partially predictive of performance at 28 months. (MSE)

A review of how second-language acquisition research accounts for individual differences focuses on research on aptitude, motivation, learning strategies, and learning styles and discusses such conceptual and methodological issues as data quantification, points of contact between variables, the multicausal nature of language learning, hypothesis…

A study was conducted to determine if students who depend on an analytical cognitive style will learn more when matched with a step-by-step treatment, and whether students who depend on a holistic cognitive style will learn more when matched with an all-at-once treatment. To test these hypotheses, scores on the Wechsler Verbal Similarities Test…

Analyzed 104 language samples obtained from 42 different normal language learning children at 15, 19, and 35 months of age for the proportional use of 11 grammatical morphemes. Wide variability was found among the samples in the proportional use of each morpheme. (49 references) (JL)

Review research on foreign language aptitude and its measurement prior to 1990. Describes research areas in the 1990s, including affective variables, language learning strategies, learning styles as contributors to aptitude and aptitude as a cognitive construct affected by language variables. Reviews research on individual differences and the…

A description of four research strategies which are different from the commonly used between-groups design: the sub-group method, the regression or correlation method, the case study method and the ethnography method. Two studies carried out in Montreal using the regression method are discussed. (AMH)

Based on results of a project undertaken in Finland over many years, this definition of transfer is offered: Transfer is both a facilitating and limiting factor which provides one basis for the learner to form and test hypotheses about the second language he or she is learning. Theory and research on transfer are discussed as they relate to item…

This collection provides a number of perspectives on the central role that language plays in reading comprehension. Following an introduction by the editor, entitled "Attention and Individual Differences in Comprehension," the following papers are presented: (1) "The Line of Sight Approach," by Norman H. Mackworth; (2)…

The decoding behavior of Cindy, a junior high school student of French, was analyzed. An examination of a transcript of her attempt to translate a French passage aloud into English revealed that she was not taking advantage of contextual guessing. During remedial sessions, an attempt was made to discover the best method of helping Cindy acquire…

The collection of articles on second language teaching and learning includes: "Cross-Cultural Discourse Pragmatics: Speaking about Hearsay in English and Japanese" (Nobuko Trent); "An Investigation of Student Opinions and Educational Experiences in Spanish for the Heritage Speakers at Arizona State University and the University of…