The increasing attention on Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) pronunciation instruction gives us an opportunity to look into the current directions of teaching CFL and the specific instructional pronunciation strategies employed by CFL teachers. This paper offers a review of empirical evidence on the use and impact of instructional pronunciation…

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…

In order to prepare students to successfully engage with native speakers and members of heritage language communities both at home and abroad, educators must develop course curricula that emphasize cultural practices, products, perspectives, and comparisons as well as provide students with opportunities to directly apply the skills that they have…

This study investigated common spelling errors among first language English speakers who study Arabic at the college level. A sample of 63 students (45 males and 18 females) was asked to write texts about a variety of topics and then to answer survey questions regarding their perceptions and strategies. Their writing produced 457 spelling errors,…

In recent years numerous studies on language learning strategies have signaled the importance of developing students' metacognitive skills. This article communicates findings from a classroom research project that sought to stimulate metacognitive self-monitoring practices among college students in an intermediate-level Spanish language course.…

Although research into language learning strategies over the past 30 years has provided many insights into how good language learners facilitate the language learning process, few studies have targeted learners of Japanese in a foreign language learning environment. This study sought to (1) identify the spoken communication strategies used by…

Although participation in multilingual communities around the world has been understood to be the raison d'etre for foreign language study, the Communities standard has been portrayed as an extracurricular experience and more difficult to weave into instruction than the other standards. This article addresses two questions: (1) Does a study abroad…

This study examined the relationship between student strategy use and the development of proficiency in a Korean as a Foreign Language classroom. A total of 66 English native speakers learning Korean as a Foreign Language were administered the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), Version 5.1. Findings indicated a low positive…

This study investigates how motivation and interaction shape the speaking proficiency of study abroad (SA) and classroom or at home (AH) language learners. The author administered a motivation questionnaire, language contact profile, and pretest and posttest simulated oral proficiency interview. The data reveal that SA and AH students had similar…

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…

This article explores the possibility of combining in the same course heritage learners who are borderline or seminative speakers with advanced language learners of Russian. After providing typology of advanced language learners in Russian and establishing that register and genre can be the focal point of such a course, the article discusses the…

This article is based on a case study of a white American graduate student, Mark, who achieved "Superior" oral proficiency in Arabic according to the ACTFIi Oral Proficiency Scale. Based on multiple data sources (e.g., interviews, observation, document analysis), the study highlights Mark's multiple identities as a language learner, language…

This study investigates the impact of a five-week intermediate Spanish course on the listening comprehension ability of 48 participants in short-term study abroad programs, and compares these groups with 92 peers enrolled in a similar course on the home campus. While both on-campus and study abroad groups experienced similar gains in listening…

Over the past decades, there have been a number of studies investigating the vocabulary strategies used by learners of Indo-European languages, especially English. However, studies of the strategies used by learners of non-Indo-European languages are rare. This classroom-based case study investigates the vocabulary learning strategies used by nine…

Studies indicate that group work accompanied by the cooperative learning elements of individual accountability and structured independence among group members enhances student achievement. This article illustrates the implementation of a specific type of cooperative learning project called group investigation. The project is based on Slavin's…