Despite the current potential to use computers to automatically generate a large range of text-based indices, many issues remain unresolved about how to apply these data in established language teaching and assessment contexts. One way to resolve these issues is to explore the degree to which automatically generated indices, which are reflective…

Foreign language reading serves as the fundamental channel for foreign language acquisition and for information gathering. However, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners are generally slow in their reading rates. A number of approaches have been proposed to improve reading rates of EFL learners, underpinned by learning theories. From an…

Constraints on linguistic variation are consistent across adult speakers, yielding probabilistic and systematic patterns. Yet, little is known about the development of such patterns during childhood. This study investigates Spanish subject pronoun expression in naturalistic data from 154 monolingual children in Mexico, divided into four age…

This study explores the teaching of second language (L2) Spanish sociopragmatics through concept-based pragmatics instruction (van Compernolle, 2014). The concepts of self-presentation, social distance, and power were the focus of a pedagogical enrichment program in 2 sections of a beginning-level Spanish class at a northeastern U.S. university.…

This article investigates the learning of two syntactic structures in Italian--Pre-possessive Determiner Article (PPDA) and Differential Object Marking--that each pose specific learning difficulties for Spanish-speaking learners of Italian (SSLI), resulting from the asymmetrical relationship with corresponding structures in the learners' L1…

Education researchers often study count variables, such as times a student reached a goal, discipline referrals, and absences. Most researchers that study these variables use typical regression methods (i.e., ordinary least-squares) either with or without transforming the count variables. In either case, using typical regression for count data can…

The present study explores the initial stages of incidental acquisition of two grammatical properties of verbs (subcategorization and [ir]regularity) during reading in first language (L1) and second language (L2) German using an adjusted self-paced reading paradigm. The results indicate that L1 speakers are superior to L2 speakers in the…

Previous evidence suggests that grammatical constraints have a rapid influence during language comprehension, particularly at the level of word categories (noun, verb, preposition). These findings are in conflict with a recent study from Angele, Laishley, Rayner, and Liversedge (2014), in which sentential fit had no early influence on word…

This article defines academic language by examining the central features of vocabulary, syntax, and discourse function. Examples of each feature are provided, as well as methods of identifying them in oral language and printed text. We describe a yearlong study that found teachers used different types of academic language based on instructional…

This paper investigates how detailed a linguistic representation is formed for descriptions of visual events. In two experiments, participants watched captioned videos and decided whether the captions accurately described the videos. In both experiments, videos depicted geometric shapes moving around the screen. In the first experiment, all of the…

This thesis presents an analysis of the system of transitivity, voice and valency alternations in Huasteco of San Luis Potosi (Mayan) within a functional-typological framework. The study is based on spoken discourse and elicited data collected in the municipalities of Aquismon and Tancanhuitz de Santos in the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The…

It is currently unclear to what extent a spontaneous language sample of a given number of utterances is representative of a child's ability in morphology and syntax. This lack of information about the regularity of children's linguistic productions and the reliability of spontaneous language samples have serious implications for language…

The article is devoted to the problems of foreign language education in linguistic universities, namely to acquiring the pragmatic competence by students. The research questions whether EFL learners are pragmatically competent in using language in a certain communicative situation. The experimental teaching session proves that the special research…

In recent years, many Turkish universities, particularly the foundation universities in the private sector, have adopted English either in part or in full, as the language of instruction. In practice, this has meant that English should be the only working language of instruction in all academic activities, ranging from lectures, seminars,…

Communicative alignment refers to adaptation to one's communication partner. Temporal aspects of such alignment have been little explored. This article examines temporal aspects of lexical and syntactic alignment (i.e., tendencies to use the interlocutor's lexical items and syntactic structures) in task-oriented discourse. In particular, we…