In a knowledge society characterized by an abundance of information sources that present conflicting perspectives on socio-scientific controversies, it is extremely important for readers to construct effective mental models of such controversies. Nevertheless, readers' mental representations of controversial information are assumed to be biased…

In L2 reading, words and the concepts they denote frequently constitute an important vehicle or obstacle in the comprehension process. However, this has been rarely explored from a language awareness perspective. The current research therefore tailors the constructs of lexical awareness and conceptual awareness to L2 reading contexts by using a…

This paper reports on an investigation into metacognitive awareness of Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) student writers, under a threefold metacognition framework--person, task, and strategy variables, and within the broader domain of cognitive writing theories. Data were collected in a Chinese tertiary English language teaching (ELT)…

The training of language teachers still follows traditional models of teachers' competences and awareness, focusing solely on the target language. Such models are incompatible with multilingual pedagogy, whereby languages are not taught in isolation, and learners' background languages are activated to enhance the process. When teaching…

Numerous second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have tried to define grammatical difficulty in second and foreign language acquisition--often as part of an attempt to relate the efficacy of different types of instruction to the degree of difficulty of grammatical structures. The resulting proliferation of definitions and the lack of a…

This study examined 29 second-year undergraduate students of Spanish using a self-access learning environment for the first time, focusing on their language attitudes and learning strategies. The results show that, even as modern languages majors, the students possessed a model of language and strategies for learning that were significantly…

Argues that the issues raised by the exchange of papers between Simon Borg and Paul Rastall are fundamental to the process of education and to the roles and identities of teachers and researchers. Points out that the distinction between the two kinds of knowledge within which education operates lies at the heart of the problem of bridging practice…

Demonstrates what is to be understood by "procedural knowledge," at a time when researchers demand more process-oriented language courses to replace factual knowledge-oriented ones. The article presents a neurobiologically based model of the mental processes involved in the acquisition and use of language knowledge and discusses how pedagogical…

Language awareness, integral to language education in Europe, now influences Canadian second-language programs. The General Language Education (GLE) Syllabus of the "National Core French Study" endeavors to foster language proficiency and tolerance of linguistic and cultural diversity and encourages students to develop their own learning…

The research reported here investigated primary school pupils' use of reading strategies. The study differed from most of the previous studies on reading strategies in that (1) the participants were young bilinguals in multicultural Singapore; (2) the data were examined within the Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) framework developed by John…

Describes the workings of one cognitive model for the development of literary knowledge. The model derives from current discussions of the role of conscious processes in language learning. (Author/VWL)

Attempts to validate a psycholinguistic model of language processing. One experiment designed to provide insight into the model is TALK, is a system developed to promote conversational fluency in non-speaking individuals. TALK, designed primarily for people with cerebral palsy and motor neuron disease. Talk is demonstrated to be a viable tool for…

Argues that awareness of the relationship between language and the sociocultural context in which it occurs is important for students and teachers. The article suggests that everyday, ephemeral texts can be easily collected and categorized according to genre for teaching and cross-cultural comparison. (19 references) (Author/CK)

Describes an attempt at an English grammar program for the first year of secondary schooling in Queensland, Australia linked to the grammatical features introduced in the students' second language programs. Outlines the stages of development, including examination of the second language texts and of English course books and deciding on a…

Argues for the use of poetry reading in second language classrooms. Reviews literary and linguistic theories of poetry and synthesizes these theories within a psycholinguistic model of poetry reading, according to which the central aspect of poetry reading is the conscious negotiation of the formal structures of language for comprehension…