The "ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines" serve as a roadmap for foreign/second language (L2) instruction, assessment, curriculum development, and textbook writing. However, very little research has investigated the validity claims of the "ACTFL Guidelines." This study empirically verifies the difficulty hierarchy suggested by…

Chinese directional complement (DC) constructions, as a subtype of Chinese multiword sequences, are challenging to acquire for second language (L2) learners. However, little is known about L2 Chinese learners' acquisition of figurative DCs and their comprehension of literal and figurative DCs. This study investigated whether the acquisition of…

The impact of task complexity on integrated writing performance is under-researched. This study purports to investigate the effect of graph complexity and planning time on graph writing performance as well as graph description strategies. Ninety-six EFL learners of English were assigned into three groups to examine the effect of three planning…

The Hindi consonant inventory, which includes the cross-linguistically rare retroflex place of articulation and four-way laryngeal contrasts, is known to pose difficulties for native English speakers. Hindi language textbooks address this challenge, in part, by providing various articulatory and acoustic descriptions of Hindi consonants, typically…

Sequencing language production activities based on the inherent cognitive load of each activity type can improve student performance and self-efficacy on high cognitive load language tasks like conversational speech (either face-to-face or via video chat). This ordering according to cognitive difficulty can scaffold learners in their development…

The demand for Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) university courses in the United States has prompted widespread curricular change in language departments over the last two decades (Klee, 2015; Sánchez-López, 2013). However, many instructors lack the tools and training needed to design SSP curricula that meet learners' communicative needs in…

This study compares student preconceptions and expectations of Japanese language learning from studies conducted in 1989 and 2004. Over the years, student interests and pedagogical approaches have changed. However, the changes do not reflect on the student preconceptions and expectations. They still believe in traditional approaches to language…

Practical suggestions are given for teachers wanting to improve classroom computer assisted instruction, including the use of title, instructions, error-proofing responses, feedback, prompts, remediation, personalization, scorekeeping, levels of difficulty, timing, and variety. (Author/MSE)

Identifies and discusses ten factors that contribute to the difficulties that language learners may have in dealing with false cognates. Provides suggestions for minimizing confusion. (Author/VWL)

Studied the effect of grading classroom communicative activities on student performance at two different levels. Results indicated no significant difference in scores between the experimental and control groups at either level. (10 references) (VWL)