In response to a paper on Translation Quality Assessment and the training of translators, it is argued that too much emphasis is given to the role of psycholinguistics, functionalism, and quality assessment and too little on the development of student translators as the complex readers and writers that translators should be. Focus is on literary…

A response to a paper on the training of translators criticizes assertions made about the layperson's view of translation and about the relevance and consistency of professional training, and identifies misconceptions in the author's understanding of specific theories and approaches, particularly the functionalist approach to translation and…

The author of a paper of Translation Quality Assessment and the training of translators responds to criticisms, focusing on the problems of a contrastive/comparative linguistics approach to translation, the complexity of the translation task, and the issue of translator subjectivity. (MSE)

Investigated how adult learners of English-as-a-Second- Language (ESL) process sentences containing verbs that are temporarily ambiguous in interpretation between a main verb and a reduced relative clause. Seventeen Chinese, 17 Korean or Japanese, and 17 Romance learners with advanced ESL proficiency and a comparison group of 17 monolingual native…

Investigated whether information and memory processing associated with emotional topics would create distinct processing behaviors in English-as-a-Second-Language students. Participants reviewed several topics, described their levels of emotional impact, and wrote about them. Emotional topics motivated students to emphasize the lower,…

Review research on foreign language aptitude and its measurement prior to 1990. Describes research areas in the 1990s, including affective variables, language learning strategies, learning styles as contributors to aptitude and aptitude as a cognitive construct affected by language variables. Reviews research on individual differences and the…

This is the second part of a two-part article. The first part looked at the learning-acquiring distinction put forward and subsequently developed by Krashen in the 1980s. The article examined the consequences of teaching at either end of the learning-acquiring continuum. Part two picks up the notion that spontaneous communication is not possible…

This study compares the relative effects of two types of instruction, processing instruction and traditional instruction, on the acquisition of the verbs "ser" and "estar" with adjectives and past participles. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes second-language learners' processing of linguistic data within the target language, focusing on input and intake in second-language acquisition and factors and cognitive processes that affect input processing. Input factors include input simplification, input enhancement, and interactional modifications. Individual learner differences…

Research on the neurobiology of second language (L2) learning has historically focused on localization questions and relied on cross-sectional designs. Here, we describe an alternative paradigm involving longitudinal studies of adult, novice learners who are progressing through an introductory sequence of classroom-based L2 instruction. The goal…

In this study, the effects of second language (i.e., L2) proficiency and age of second language acquisition are assessed. Three types of bilinguals are compared: Early L2 learners, Late highly proficient L2 learners, and Late less proficient L2 learners. A lexical decision priming paradigm is used in which the critical trials consist of first…

This study investigates the effects of meaningful input- and output-based practice on SLA. First-semester Spanish students (n = 45) were assigned to processing instruction, meaningful output-based instruction, or control groups. Experimental groups received the same input in instruction but received meaningful practice that was input or output…

This article addresses the question of how second language (L2) learners understand idiomatic expressions in their second/foreign language and advances the proposition that literal meanings of idiom constituents enjoy processing priority over their figurative interpretations. This suggestion forms the core of the literal-salience resonant model of…

This study examined effects of word writing on second language vocabulary learning. In two experiments, English-speaking learners of Spanish attempted to learn 24 Spanish nouns while viewing word-picture pairs. The participants copied 12 target words and wrote nothing for the other 12 target words being studied. Productive vocabulary learning on…

This book defines and reviews five central problems in the study of second language acquisition (SLA): (subconscious) transfer, staged development, cross-learner systematicity, incompleteness, and variability. The central thesis of the text is that linguistic knowledge is an autonomous component of SLA, distinct from the socially determined use of…