Previous research on reference tracking has revealed a tendency towards over-explicitness in second language (L2) learners. Only limited evidence exists that this trend extends to situations where the learner's first and second languages do not share a sensory-motor modality. Using a story-telling paradigm, this study examined how hearing novice…

Recent studies on the learning of L2 prosody have suggested that pitch gestures can enhance the learning of the L2 lexical tones. Yet it remains unclear whether the use of these gestures can aid the learning of L2 intonation, especially by tonal-language speakers. Sixty-four Mandarin speakers with basic-level Spanish were asked to learn three…

Recent research has shown that beat gestures (hand gestures that co-occur with speech in spontaneous discourse) are temporally integrated with prosodic prominence and that they help word memorization and discourse comprehension. However, little is known about the potential beneficial effects of beat gestures in second language (L2) pronunciation…

The term "communicative competence" has been in currency for approximately 10 years and is generally used to refer to teaching strategies which substitute real-life situations and contexts for meaningless mechanical and structural exercises. In essence, it attempts to put content and contact into the speech act. However, early proponents…

An approach to English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teaching that helps students prepare for intercultural communication is described, drawing on the literature of second language learning and intercultural communication. First, potential barriers to intercultural understanding are examined, including the culture-bound nature of communication,…

A method for highlighting aspects of oral communication for French second-language learners is described. Students are videotaped mimicking a one-minute passage in French, which is recorded over the video. The dubbed student performance illustrates the role of body language, rhythm, intonation, and other factors in speech. (MSE)

The series of articles in this volume were selected from among those presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning in April 1994. Articles include: "The Right Tool for the Job: Techniques for Analysis of Natural Language Use" (Georgia M. Green); "Sinclair & Coulthard Revisited: Global-…

Four issues of "TESL Reporter" are presented. Contents include the following articles: "Feedback: An Anti-Madeirization Compound" by Henry M. Schaafsma; "Using the Personal Pronoun 'I' as a Compound Subject" by G. Pang and D. Chu; "The Consonant'L' in Initial and Final Positions" by Maybelle Chong; "Sentence Expansion for the Elementary Level" by…