This study investigates the effects of instruction on second language (L2) pragmatic competence and the factors that moderate the effectiveness of pragmatics instruction. A comprehensive literature search yielded 29 primary studies that involved 1,898 L2 learners, generating 54 effect sizes for between-group contrasts. Aggregated results showed…

This article synthesises progress made in the description of spoken (especially conversational) grammar over the 20 years since the authors published a paper in this journal arguing for a re-thinking of grammatical description and pedagogy based on spoken corpus evidence. We begin with a glance back at the 16th century and the teaching of Latin…

This study examines the linguistic complexity and lexical diversity of both overt and covert L2 output produced during synchronous written computer-mediated communication, also referred to as chat. Video enhanced chatscripts produced by university learners of German (N = 23) engaged in dyadic task-based chat interaction were coded and analyzed for…

This research creates an empirically derived, pedagogically useful list of formulaic sequences for academic speech and writing, comparable with the Academic Word List (Coxhead 2000), called the Academic Formulas List (AFL). The AFL includes formulaic sequences identified as (i) frequent recurrent patterns in corpora of written and spoken language,…

The call for longitudinal evidence on the efficacy of written corrective feedback (WCF) for ESL (English as a second language) writers has been made repeatedly since Truscott (1996) claimed that it is ineffective, harmful, and should therefore be abandoned. This article discusses some of the theoretical issues raised against the practice, outlines…

Corpus-based research has shown that the frequency of use of particular grammatical structures and lexis in English is not always congruent with the content or ordering of explicit rules in pedagogical materials. The present study provides an additional example from French, focusing on word-order rules related to adjective position and the…

Argues that researchers should approach language learning memoirs as a genre and not simply as ethnographic data, subject to content analysis. Using gender as a case in point, analyzes 16 full-length language memoirs and seven essays within a theoretical framework, which combines sociohistoric, sociocultural, and rhetorical analyses of the…

Analyzes the use of verb-noun collocations by advanced German speaking students of English in free written production. Types of mistakes that learners make when producing collocations are identified. The influence of the degree of restriction of a combination and of learners' first language on the production of collocations is investigated. (VWL)

Briefly characterizes the view of context most widely used in applied linguistics and language teaching. Research about some of the parameters that contribute to greater or lesser conceptual difficulty is outlined. Research about the role of intentionality and causality in narrative is also described. (Author/CB)

Presents an account of a study of the role played by a dictionary in the completion of written (encoding) tasks by students of English as a foreign language. The study uses an introspective methodology based on the completion of flowcharts. Results indicate the importance of information on spelling and meanings and the neglect of coded syntactic…

Examines how quantification is expressed in written English. Suggests ways of defining the categories of meanings a learner might need to be able to express and the linguistic devices used to realize these meanings. Categories of quantification are included. (Author/LMO)

This study investigated register features of 164 foreign students' English writing before and after full-time courses in English for academic purposes. Results indicate the major changes were from features of spoken English to those more typical of formal writing, both in surface detail and in more fundamental characteristics. Less change occurred…