This dissertation investigates whether and how learners' heritage language (HL) background and explicitness of feedback influence second language (L2) pragmatic development of Korean referent honorifics through conversational interaction. Specifically, this study focuses on HL learners versus non-heritage language (NHL) learners and recasts versus…

Spanish heritage speakers have been shown to have incomplete knowledge of dative case marking with both animate direct objects (also known as differential object marking (DOM) or "a-personal") and dative experiencers with "gustar"-psych verbs in oral and written modes (Montrul, 2004; Montrul & Bowles, in press). In general, Spanish objects that…

Previous studies revealed mixed results in terms of the relative effects of implicit and explicit feedback: some found that explicit feedback worked more efficiently than implicit feedback; others found no difference between the two feedback types. These contrasting results called for further investigations into this issue, particularly examining…

Twelve Spanish-speaking school-aged children participated in an 8-week pretest/posttest design investigation targeting improvement of their communicative competence through a narrative intervention program. Also examined the efficacy of providing an intervention in the children's native language. Findings revealed that use of a narrative…