This paper compares explicit instruction in second-language Spanish with a control treatment on a written picture description task and a timed auditory grammaticality judgment task. Participants came from two intact, third-year US high school classes, with one experiencing a week of communicative lessons on the Spanish clitic "se"…

A longitudinal study compared the effects of distributed and massed practice schedules on the learning of second language English syntax. Participants were taught distinctions in the tense and aspect systems of English at short and long practice intervals. They were then tested at short and long intervals. The results showed that distributed…

Gestures are often used while speaking to aid in the speaker's packaging of the verbal message and/or to aid the listener in decoding the message. The ways in which bilinguals use gestures are reviewed in this article. Researchers have predicted that bilinguals' gesture use is related to bilinguals' language proficiency. However, no clear pattern…

Advances the hypothesis that learning a miniature artificial language (MAL) can be regarded as a means of furthering knowledge on inductive second-language (L2) learning. Suggests that more creative use of MAL methods can have pedagogical manipulation of input. (Author/BK)

Addresses a long-standing assumption that presenting new second language (L2) vocabulary in semantically grouped sets is an effective method of teaching. Discusses findings in terms of theoretical models of second language lexical representation and development, as well as in more practical terms of L2 curriculum design and vocabulary instruction.…

Focuses on second language teaching with a format-based method. The differences between a format-based teaching method and a standard approach used as treatments in a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group are described in detail. Examines whether the effects of a format-based teaching method and a standard foreign language method differ…

Describes the preliminary findings in the Basque Country of a project shared by four European countries to teach a second language or a foreign language to preschool and school-age children. The method used to teach the foreign language--English--is based on the use of dramatized formats. Examines level of language proficiency achieved with each…

Reviews psychological aspects relevant to second language (L2) vocabulary list learning and reports on an experiment conducted with high school students learning French. Findings reveal that presenting vocabulary items in first language-second language order is the more versatile form of presentation if both production and comprehension of L2…

Evaluated two training methods that might be used to increase Mandarin adults' accuracy in identifying final /t/ and /d/ as stops in English. Results indicate that the effects of training generalized to words that were not used in training, and subjects maintained the effects of same/different training better than those of identification training.…

Investigated the independent and interactive effects of contextual and definitional information on vocabulary learning. German students of English received either a text with unfamiliar English words or their monolingual English dictionary entries. A third group received both. Information about word context is crucial to understanding meaning. (44…