Sample accepted findings on learners, environments, and interlanguages are proposed along with some implications for second-language acquisition theories. (79 references) (JL)

Examines the possible and specific relationships between first language (L1) acquisition and second language (L2) acquisition to show that a number of assumptions warrant closer inspection. Explores problems in distinguishing L1 from L2 acquisition from three different perspectives: individual language learner histories, the data, and the…

This paper examines the issue of social structure and individual agency in language learning through the life histories of three young engineering graduates in Hong Kong. English is identified as an important form of cultural capital, which to a considerable extent determines the development of the three individuals, each of whom comes from a…

This study considered the effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2007) and sociobiographical variables (age, gender, education level, number of languages known, age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use, socialization, network of interlocutors, self-perceived proficiency) on…

Ten case studies of adults learning a second language are reported and analyzed in an effort to identify a variety of learning strategies. The superordinate strategies that were discovered lent themselves to the development of a tentative language learning model, which is set forth as a chart. The model is consistently confirmed by the various…

Understanding the neural representation and control of language in normal bilingual speakers provides insights into the factors that constrain the acquisition of another language, insights into the nature of language expertise, and an understanding of the brain as an adaptive system. We illustrate both functional and structural brain changes…

Bilingualism (Sanz, 2000), motivation (Pintrich, 1989), and language aptitude (Grigorenko, Sternberg, and Ehrman, 2000) are crucial individual differences that contribute to successful adult language learning. Since Gardner's (1985) seminal work on motivation, many studies have shown that motivation is dynamic and that it affects language…

Ever since the early days of its existence, the field of psychology has been trying to achieve two different and somewhat contradictory objectives: to understand the "general principles" of the human mind and to explore the "uniqueness" of the individual mind. The latter direction has formed an independent subdiscipline within…

Three issues of concern in language acquisition are discussed: (1) apparent attrition of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) by puberty; (2) observable differences among second-language learners with respect to LAD efficiency; and (3) whether explicit rules of grammar can become part of linguistic competence. (42 references) (Author/MSE)

Results gained by traditional language teaching at school are discussed, and a program, developed from research on second-language acquisition, is presented for teaching second language in schools that entails two phases. (13 references) (JL)

Tests the hypothesis that holistic students tend to use communication strategies that are based on holistic comparison, and analytic students tend to use strategies that are based on description and segmental perspectives. Suggests that individual differences in patterns of communication strategy usage can be attributed in part to cognitive style.…

This study examined the effects of three stimulus variables and background music on paired-associate learning of foreign language (FL) vocabulary. The stimulus variables were the frequency and concreteness of the native language (L1) words and the (phonotactical) typicality of the FL words. Sixty-four L1-FL pairs were presented for learning six…

The teaching of an invented language rule has been proposed as a possible non-biased, language-independent assessment technique useful in differentiating young L2 learners with specific language impairment from their typically developing peers. The current study explores these notions by testing typically developing sequential bilingual children's…

Argues that second-language reading comprehension and its assessment can be usefully divided into two aspects: (1) comprehensions (different levels of comprehension the reader adopts to suit different purposes of reading); and (2) interpretations (different readings of the same text resulting from different background knowledge or preoccupations…

Reports on a study that investigated the extent to which two individual learner variables (ethnocultural pairing and gender) and certain types of task (free conversation and decision making) have an effect on negotiation opportunities provided for and by advanced Japanese and Korean male and female English-as-a-Second-Language learners.…