While acquiring a second language, learners may encounter challenges and difficulties in effectively carrying out verbal communication in the second language. Mastering the apology speech act is a challenge for L2 learners. The objective of this study is to identify the apology strategies utilized by individuals learning the Japanese language, as…

Language is inherently variable, and learner language is particularly variable. The variationist paradigm considers learner language a heterogeneously variable yet inherently rule-governed system. Specifically, learners' alternation between native-like and nonnative-like variants of a variable or invariable target native speaker (NS) form…

In this article we look at some of the structural properties of second language (L2) Japanese WH questions. In Japanese the WH words are licensed to remain "in situ" by the prosodic contiguity properties of the phrases which have no prosodic boundaries between the WH word and the question particle. In a rehearsed-reading, sentence…

While anime is well-recognized as a significant motivator of Japanese language learners today, idol fandom, though served as an equally strong source of motivation for some learners, receives far less academic attention. This paper is a preliminary exploration of idol fandom's role in fueling the Japanese language-learning process. Through…

This study aimed to identify second language (L2) developmental indices while controlling for the effects of first language (L1). More specifically, this study investigated the differences in the use of metadiscourse markers among learners from different L1 backgrounds. The following research questions were explored: (1) Which metadiscourse…

The current study investigated how recasts can promote the L2 pronunciation development of word-initial /?/ by Japanese learners of English in relation to two developmental stages of English /?/ acquisition (i.e. change in second formant [F2] ? change in third formant [F3]) as well as four affecting variables (i.e. the amount of recasts and…

Recent research has shown that certain learners' responses to feedback, specifically repair and modified output, are predictive of subsequent second language (L2) development. Yet, little is understood about why these responses are associated with second language acquisition (SLA). The current study investigated this question by exploring the…

This interlanguage pragmatics study of linguistic expressions of affect focuses on how Japanese learners of English may express themselves in an affect-laden speech act of indirect complaint. The English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' data are compared with the baseline data of native speakers of Japanese (JJ) and American English (AA). The…

Aimed to account for the different levels of pragmatic development among 137 university-level Japanese learners of English, as functions of their varying levels of English proficiency and amount of exposure to English. (Author/VWL)

A classroom study investigated the extent of rhetorical transfer in the writing of four Japanese students in a college-level sheltered English-as-a-Second-Language course. Most of the writing assignments from the first 10 weeks of class were analyzed for the number of sentences and clauses in each paragraph (other than introductory, concluding,…

Examines the effects of vowel height and place of articulation in interlanguage devoicing patterns of final voiced stop consonants (b, d, g) in words such as "cab,""bad,""bag" in the acquisition of English as a foreign language by Mandarin, Japanese, and Portuguese speakers. Results display a combinatory effect of…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of interlanguage development in Japanese adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in acquisition-poor environments. A total of 353 subjects were divided into 9 groups based on their level of English proficiency and tested to determine: (1) what types of errors Japanese adult ESL…

The 1997 issues of "JALT Journal" include the following articles: "Influence of Learning Context on Learners' Use of Communication Strategies"; "The Eiken Test: An Investigation"; "Assessing EFL Student Progress in Critical Thinking with the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test"; "Contrastive…

This issue of "Working Papers in Educational Linguistics" begins with "Negative Evidence in Language Classroom Activities: A Study of Its Availability and Accessibility to Language Learners" (Teresa Pica and Gay N. Washburn), which revisits the issue of negative evidence in second language classrooms. The second paper,…

This edited volume includes the following chapters: "Three Kinds of Sociolinguistics and SLA: A Psycholinguistic Perspective" (Dennis R. Preston); "Getting Serious about Language Play: Language Play, Interlanguage Variation, and Second Language Acquisition" (Elaine Tarone); "Oppositional Talk and the Acquisition of Modality in L2 English" (Tom…