Empirical research shows that language anxiety has a detrimental effect on foreign language learning and its use. Several studies suggest that anxiety related to mastering and using foreign languages is skill-specific. This study examined pronunciation anxiety and attempted to determine its significant correlates. The included factors ranged from…

This study examines how language attitudes play a role in the adoption of dialectal variants in second language (L2) pronunciation in a study abroad context. Twenty-four North American university students participating in a 6-week program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were administered pre and posttest questionnaires and a posttest oral production…

The present article investigates how phonotactic rules constrain oral reading in the Russian language. The pronunciation of letters in Russian is regular and consistent, but it is subject to substantial phonotactic influence: the position of a phoneme and its phonological context within a word can alter its pronunciation. In Part 1 of the article,…

A debate centers on whether the native accent is acquired early in life or whether it can be acquired at any time. This study investigated factors that may affect native accent acquisition in a second language. Participants in this study were 50 Russians who immigrated to Israel, 17 males and 33 females. Their age on arrival was 5 to 25 years.…

Although some earlier studies reported female and child superiority in learning a second language (L2), current research has been inconclusive as to whether, and why, this might be the case. Using a socio-cultural paradigm, this study addresses how motivation, gender and age relate to the attainment of a native-like accent for young Kurdish…

Previous research has suggested that training on a musical instrument is associated with improvements in working memory and musical pitch perception ability. Good working memory and musical pitch perception ability, in turn, have been linked to certain aspects of language production. The current study examines whether working memory and/or pitch…

The current study set out to examine the age-related effects on ultimate attainment of second language (L2) phonology and grammar. The goals of the study are threefold: (1) to unravel the complexity of ultimate L2 attainment by surveying multiple contributing factors, (2) to explore the relative strength of the Age of Arrival (AOA) variable and…

Reports a study of the production of Thai vowels, consonants, and tones by native English speakers using two forms of evaluation: acoustic measurements and auditory evaluation by native Thai-speaking listeners. The study focused on the differences in acoustic parameters between the two groups and the acoustic parameter influencing native…

This study tested the issue of whether extended length of residence (LOR) in adulthood can provide sufficient input to overcome age effects. The study replicates Flege, Takagi, and Mann (1995), which found that 10 out of 12 Japanese learners of English with extensive residence (12 years or more) produced liquids as accurately as native speakers of…