Synthesizes research on nine individual-difference factors that influence success in learning a second language and offers instructional implications for each. The nine factors include aptitude, motivation, anxiety, self-esteem, tolerance of ambiguity, risk taking, language learning styles, age, and gender. (72 references) (LET)

Analysis of C-test elicited data from a project monitoring the continuous second-language development of college students indicated that language processing did not depend on native or target language status but on the difficulty of the lexical task, and that there was some measure of interaction between native and target lexical processing. (38…

Analysis of college Spanish students' processing of information under different conditions suggested that learners, and particularly early-stage learners, have great difficulty in attending to both form and content. (22 references) (Author/CB)

In a study of development of automaticity in second-language word recognition, 105 English-speakers speaking French performed multiple lexical-decision tasks, and differences in coefficient of variation of lexical decision reaction time were compared cross- sectionally and longitudinally. Results confirm that with extended learning experience, the…

Adult native speakers (L1) of Russian and advanced nonnative second-language (L2) speakers read Russian sentences on a computer and were asked to choose one of two inflected past-tense verbs in a forced-choice task. Verbs either matched or mismatched gender of the subject-noun phrase. Data suggested that L1 and L2 speakers may depend on common…

Reports on GLOSSER, an intelligent assistant for Dutch students learning to read French, and discusses the position of natural-language processing within computer-assisted instruction, using GLOSSER as an example. (Author/VWL)

Examines accuracy as a function of native language and reading ability of grade two children who spelled pseudo-words and real words. Substantiates the hypothesis that poor readers would spell more poorly than average readers. Finds second language speakers also displayed phonological deficits relative to native speakers; however, they performed…

A review of research on second-language writing looks at literature in four areas: research attempting to understand the norms and demands of writing; studies focusing on understanding students, their composing, and their texts; research on the functions of second-language writing instruction and classroom interaction between teacher and learner;…

Investigated the possible effects of two types of form-focused instruction on the acquisition of a specific feature of the Italian verbal morphology system. Processing instruction was compared to an output-based type of grammar instruction. (Author/VWL)

Examines the processing of Spanish future tense morphology incidentally while reading in a second language. Participants had no previous knowledge of future tense morphology so that, as they read the passage used in the study, they encountered the target form for the first time, which is an accented "a" on the end of an infinitive--for example,…

Explores the role of lexical phrases in language teaching. Lexical phrases are an important feature in language use and language acquisition and offer advantages for language teaching. (Author/VWL)

Visual recognition of inflected, derived, and morphophonemic Swedish nouns in monolingual Swedish and bilingual Swedish-Finnish speakers was investigated. Bilinguals were slower overall; inflected items yielded disproportionately longer reaction times in the bilingual group. Derived forms elicited fastest reaction times in both groups. The…

Visual information from the face is an integral part of speech perception. Additionally, orthography can play a role in disambiguating the speech signal in nonnative speech. This study investigates the effect of audiovisual speech information and orthography on nonnative speech. Particularly, orthographic depth is of interest. Turkish transparent…

The authors report results of a study into the role of components of first-language (L1; Dutch) and second-language (L2; English) reading comprehension. Differences in the contributions of components of L1 and L2 reading comprehension are analyzed, in particular processing speed in L1 and L2. Findings indicate that regression weights of the L1 and…

Seeing language as a complex, dynamic system and language use/acquisition as dynamic adaptedness ("a make-do" solution) to a specific context proves a useful way of understanding change in progress, such as that which occurs with a developing L2 system. This emergentist shift of perspective provides another way of understanding previously observed…