The usefulness of the dictionary as a reliable source of information for word meanings, spelling, and pronunciation is widely recognized. But even in these obvious matters, the information that the dictionary has to offer is not always accurately interpreted. With respect to pronunciation there seem to be two general pitfalls: (1) the…

Two prominent dual-route computational models of reading aloud are the dual-route cascaded (DRC) model, and the connectionist dual-process plus (CDP+) model. While sharing similarly designed lexical routes, the two models differ greatly in their respective nonlexical route architecture, such that they often differ on nonword pronunciation. Neither…

This study investigated the hypothesis that vocabulary influences word recognition skills indirectly through "set for variability", the ability to determine the correct pronunciation of approximations to spoken English words. One hundred forty children participating in a 3-year longitudinal study were administered reading and…

This study examined whether high-variability auditory training on natural speech can benefit experienced second-language English speakers who already are exposed to natural variability in their daily use of English. The subjects were native French speakers who had learned English in school; experienced listeners were tested in England and the less…

Digital flashcards are one of the most popular self-study computer-assisted vocabulary learning tools for beginners of Chinese as a foreign language. However, studies on the effects of this widely used learning tool are scarce. Introducing a new concept--referential stimulus--into the Dual Coding Theory (DCT) framework, this study acknowledges the…

The present study examines the production outcomes of late second language (L2) learners in order to determine if the mechanisms that allow the creation of phonetic categories remains available during the lifespan, as the Speech Language Model (SLM) claims. In addition, the study focuses on the type of interaction that exists between the first…

Despite the growing use of media in the classroom, the effects of using of audio versus video in pronunciation teaching has been largely ignored. To analyze the impact of the use of audio or video training on aural discrimination of vowels, 61 participants (all students at a large American university) took a pre-test followed by two training…

Test takers should have a voice in testing practices (Mathew, 2004). However, when incorporating their input, systematic processes to ensure the validity of testing practices must be followed. Such processes allow for test development to be a more democratic process (Shohamy, 2001), without sacrificing the value of the resulting inferences made…

The present study examines whether and to what degree providing explicit phonetic information (EI) at the beginning of form-focused instruction (FFI) on second language pronunciation can enhance the generalizability and magnitude of FFI effectiveness by increasing learners' ability to notice a new phone. Participants were 49 Japanese learners of…

The success of Canada's immigration policy is intrinsically tied to employment of an immigrant workforce. Teaching is the fourth largest profession among Canadian immigrants, yet immigrants whose occupations are in education are three times less likely to be employed in their matching profession. Failure to incorporate an immigrant workforce not…

English textbooks are widely used in every discipline in the majority of colleges and universities in Taiwan. To prepare college students for their future careers, it is necessary they be given systematic training and practice in reading these books. However, due to time constraints, most content teachers focus on the delivery of content rather…

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are firmly established in language learning contexts, yet there are still many questions in relation to how widely they are employed and, indeed, how useful they are in developing all aspects of communicative competence. With a cohort of four teachers and one hundred students, this study examines…

In this paper we analyzed some of the phonological rules of Russian loanword adaptation in Persian, on the view of Optimal Theory (OT) (Prince & Smolensky, 1993/2004). It is the first study of phonological process on Russian loanwords adaptation in Persian. By gathering about 50 current Russian loanwords, we selected some of them to analyze. We…

When Roger Brown selected Adam, Eve and Sarah to be the first three participants in the modern study of child language, one of the criteria was the intelligibility of their speech (Brown, 1973). According to the prevailing view at the time, accuracy of pronunciation was a peripheral phenomenon that had nothing to do with the development of…

Japanese kanji reading can be divided into two types: "On"-readings, derived from the original Chinese pronunciation and "Kun"-readings, originating from the Japanese pronunciation. Kanji that are normally given an "On"-reading around 50% of the time were presented in a context of other kanji that had either a highly dominant "On"-reading or a…