Answering calls to map college-level proficiency development (Modern Language Association, 2007) and longitudinally chart language learning (Barkaoui, 2014; Ortega & Byrnes, 2008), we mapped the oral proficiency growth of 1,922 lower-division college students of Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish (in the second, third, or fourth semester of…

A common predictor of language gains during study abroad (SA) is amount of language use. Yet little attention has been given to determining what factors influence the extent of language use while abroad. Studies in this area have mainly been case studies of learners in single locations. In this larger study, we seek to determine variables…

The current study focused on emergent processes during real-time second language (L2) writing activity in an English as a foreign language university context, examining differences in these processes across individual capacities. Participants included 22 adult Japanese learners of L2 English and their tutor. The data were collected using digital…

Learning context has increasingly been postulated to exert an influence on the dynamics of individual differences in language learning. In a longitudinal design that tested the proficiency gains of 1,682 learners over a 2-year foreign language program, a multilevel modeling approach was deployed in this study to account for variation in second…

This study investigated the acquisition of English slang in a foreign language context. The participants were 101 Bulgarian learners of English, 58 high school students, and 43 university students. The instrument included knowledge tests of English slang terms and questions about attitudes, sources, reasons, and methods employed in learning…

The study reported on in this article set out to replicate and extend Bardovi-Harlig and Dornyei's (1998) investigation of pragmatic awareness by addressing two research questions: (a) Do learners in English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) contexts display differences in their recognition and rating of pragmatic…

This cross-sectional investigation focused on second language (L2) communication among students in a junior high French late immersion program. Effects of language, sex, and grade on willingness to communicate, anxiety, and perceived communication competence, on frequency of communication in French, and on attitudes and motivation variables were…

Reports on the third year of a research project to document and evaluate an innovative foreign language in elementary schools (FLES) program in Japanese for Grades K-5. Findings indicate that the children progressed considerably in foreign language proficiency and developed positive attitudes toward language learning. (28 references) (Author/CK)