The present study sets out to explore the distinctive roles played by two working memory (WM) components in various aspects of L2 task-based speech planning and performance. A group of 40 post-intermediate proficiency level Chinese EFL learners took part in the empirical study. Following the tenets and basic principles of the…

Acoustic and perceptual studies investgate B2-level Polish learners' acquisition of second language (L2) English word-boundaries involving word-initial vowels. In production, participants were less likely to produce glottalization of phrase-medial initial vowels in L2 English than in first language (L1) Polish. Perception studies employing word…

Developing the ability to speak English is a daunting task that has long been omitted in a test-driven pedagogy context (Chang, 2011; Li, 2012a, 2012b; Chen & Tsai, 2012; Katchen, 1989, 1995). Since speaking is not tested for school admissions, most students are not motivated to learn it (Chang, 2011; Chen & Tsai, 2012). Now, globalization…

The authors present a novel way of oral language training by embedding the English as a foreign language (EFL) learning process into a generic 3D Cooperative Virtual Reality (VR) Game. Due to lack of time, resources and innovation, the language classroom is limited in its possibilities of promoting authentic communication. Therefore, the…

The current article presents some key theories most relevant to the development of oral communication skills in an Indonesian senior high school. Critical analysis on the learners' background is employed to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. The brief overview of the learning context and learners' characteristic are used to identify which…

Problem Statement: The ubiquity of anxious teacher candidates (TCs) for English as a foreign language (EFL) in listening classes and their needs for understanding aural input call for deep concern by foreign-language (FL) teacher educators. Purpose of Study: As a teacher educator, in my undergraduate-level listening classes, I have frequently…

An important part of "doing" science is engaging in collaborative science practices. To better understand how to support these practices, we need to consider how students collaboratively construct and represent shared understanding in complex, problem-oriented, and authentic learning environments. This research presents a case study…

Purpose: P. A. Hadley and H. Short (2005) developed a set of measures designed to assess the emerging diversity and productivity of tense and agreement (T/A) morpheme use by 2-year-olds. The authors extended 2 of these measures to the preschool years to evaluate their utility in distinguishing children with specific language impairment (SLI) from…

Spectral moment analysis (SMA) was used to describe voiceless alveolar and velar stop-plosive production in Persian-speaking children with repaired cleft lip and palate (CLP). Participants included 11 children with bilateral CLP who were undergoing maxillary expansion and 20 children without any type of orofacial clefts. Four of the children with…

As part of a yearly university mandated assessment of a large basic communication course that fulfills the oral communication general education requirement, this study examined student preferences for textbooks, reading, and learning. Specifically, basic course students ("N"=321) at a large state university in the Midwest were asked to…

Although it has been often hypothesized that children learn to produce new sound patterns first in frequently heard words, the available evidence in support of this claim is inconclusive. To re-examine this question, we conducted a survival analysis of word-initial consonant clusters produced by three children in the Providence Corpus (0 ; 11-4 ;…

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the caudal zona incerta (cZi) pitch characteristics of connected speech in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Method: The authors evaluated 16 patients preoperatively and 12 months after DBS surgery. Eight…

The paper Languages in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Societies examines how language is treated in Jamaica and other Anglophone Caribbean societies and the effects of a haphazard approach to language planning on the social dynamics of the society as well as the individual. It briefly explores how Language is handled in Francophone or…

In most collections of segmental speech errors, exchanges are less frequent than anticipations and perseverations. However, it has been suggested that in inner speech exchanges might be more frequent than either anticipations or perseverations, because many half-way repaired errors (Yew...uhh...New York) are classified as repaired anticipations,…

Empirical examination of components of behavioral parent training programs is necessary to inform treatment effectiveness and efficiency; however, comprehensive research on many components is lacking. The current study examined two parenting components utilized in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy by investigating the effects of behavioral…