This study investigated whether orthographic consistency and individual learner differences including working memory (WM), first language (L1) background, and second language (L2) proficiency affect Chinese L2 learners' literacy acquisition. Seventy American college students in beginning or intermediate Chinese classes participated in a character…

Experience with a second language (L2) has been shown to facilitate learning of a third or subsequent language (L3) (Sanz 2000). However, little is known about how much L2 experience is needed before benefits for L3 development emerge, or about whether effects depend on type of L3 instruction. We report two experiments investigating initial…

The Ranschburg phenomenon is a process of memory interference caused by confounding of similar elements in discretely learned materials. (RS)

The transformational-generative concept of language learning as constructing a theory about language inspired this experiment. Language performance developed by a method of language learning designed to help the student study about a second language through manipulative exercises was compared to language performance developed by a method not…

This study reviews current research seeking to determine the relative importance of methodology upon success in language learning programs. Six language classes, instructed for a full academic year according to either the principles of the audiolingual or cognitive code language learning theory, were the focus of an experiment to statistically…