We propose a previously unexamined factor instrumental in learning vocabulary accounting for the differences between learning a native and a foreign language: the development of critical thinking in adolescence. We hypothesize that the difficulties experienced in foreign vocabulary development result from the learner's readiness to question new…

This study examines the outcomes of a US-based six-week summer professional development program for 19 Taiwanese teachers of Mandarin Chinese as a Foreign Language. The goal of this funded program was to facilitate international teachers' understanding and application of the "World-Readiness Standards" for Learning Languages (National…

Discusses the elements of the language learning process, i.e., language experience, the learner, mental processes, comprehension, learning, the capacities the learner brings to the process, and the conditions for learning and elaborates on their implications for second language teaching. What must occur before the learner moves across the gap…