Extending previous findings on adult L2 learners' integration of verbal and constructional information, this study investigated how child learners of English as a foreign language produce verbs in target constructions and whether (a) receptive skills and (b) the specific production modality (spoken versus written) modulate the integration process.…

This study contributes to the limited research on teacher agency in task-based language teaching. Conceptualising agency through the lens of activity theory, the study investigated how two EFL teachers enacted their agency in TBLT implementation at a Chinese university and what factors mediated the enactment of their agency. Data collected by…

The present dissertation explores the effect of exposure to non-native speech via foreign film on non-native speech production and perception. In order to explore potential effects, two main experiments were developed, which examined French production and perception by monolingual native speakers of English before and after exposure to French…

The present study explored perceptual and articulatory techniques addressing the pronunciation of Spanish rhotics by means of a week-long computerized training. Through a quasi-experimental design approach, the study tested the utility of the online training and its effects on the phonetic production of taps [voiced alveolar tap or flap] and…

The promotion of the English language continues to be instrumental in helping China to engage with the world, but it has caused identity anxiety and cultural uncertainty among language learners. In this paper, we analyze data from a favorite-character-presentation task and an oral survey conducted with 82 preschool children in Shanghai. We found…

Differentiated second/foreign language (L2) instruction (DI) has received growing attention in pedagogical research. Yet, as a cornerstone of inclusive education, the DI is still under-documented. In this study, we integrated diagnostic assessment (DIA) and collaborative language learning in a differentiated (tiered) oral tasks intervention and…

The English Resultative Construction (ERC) is a satellite-framed structure with no identical equivalent in Spanish. In a series of studies, we analyzed and compared recognition (acceptability judgment task) and comprehension (sentence comprehension task) of three ERC subtypes with the English Depictive Construction (EDC) (which has a Spanish…

Existing studies on L2 motivation have established a significant association between ideal self, learning engagement, and academic achievement, but few have examined the internal relationships between these variables in the L2 writing domain. In addition, students' linguistic competence, a fundamental element of writing achievement, remains…

Purpose: It is not clear if behavioral indices of listening effort are sensitive to changes in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for young children (7-12 years old) from multilingual backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of SNR on listening effort in multilingual school-aged children (native English, nonnative English) as…

Since Brumfit's landmark definition of applied linguistics as the theoretical and empirical study of real world problems in which language plays a central role (Brumfit, 2000), there have been periodic calls for applied linguistics to engage with problems experienced by people in real world contexts (such as teaching, health, business, law, social…

Items in the mental lexicon have three storage and processing strata, the concept, lemma, and lexeme, which equate to semantic, syntactic and phonological information. Lexical items relate to each other at each stratum. Bilingual lexicons, which contain items from all languages, may contain cognates, items sharing concepts and with overlapping…

This paper argues the nature of adult foreign or second language (L2) vocabulary learning and points out the importance of word-form learning at the initial stage of vocabulary development. The Type of Processing-Resource Allocation (TOPRA) model is introduced as a prominent theoretical framework to capture it. Finally, some future studies are…

Integrated writing is increasingly used in language assessment programmes. As a hybrid task, it requires students to coordinate different language skills, i.e. listening, reading and writing, to retrieve information from multiple sources, and compose an essay for a specific purpose. Tapping into the varied skills that contribute to successful…

To examine whether there are common or specific deficits of reading disability (RD) in first (L1) and second languages (L2), Chinese children (9-11 years, N = 76) with or without RD who learn English as an L2 were studied during a visual word rhyming judgment task. Evidence was found for common deficits in L1 and L2 in visuo-orthographic processes…

This study examined the role of child cognitive abilities for procedural and declarative learning in the earliest stages of second language (L2) exposure. In the context of a computer game, 53 first language Italian monolingual children were aurally trained in a novel miniature language over 3 consecutive days. A mixed effects model analysis of…