This study investigates whether practice with computer-administered feedback in the absence of meaning-focused interaction can help second language learners notice the corrective intent of recasts and develop linguistic accuracy. A group of 218 beginning Anglophone learners of Spanish received 1 of 4 types of automated feedback (no feedback,…

This study focuses, from a bilingual perspective, on how a Swedish national test is intended to promote critical literacy and language development in line with related aims in syllabuses for Swedish and Swedish as a second language. The material consists of reading and writing assignments and prescribed classroom preparations (including…

Research has demonstrated that focused perceptual training facilitates L2 learners' segmental perception and spoken word identification. Hardison (2003) and Motohashi-Saigo and Hardison (2009) found benefits of visual cues in the training for acquisition of L2 contrasts. The present study examined factors affecting perception and production…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) currently offers five bilingual programs and two English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for English language learners (ELLs). These programs are intended to facilitate ELL students' integration into the regular school curriculum and to ensure access to equal educational opportunities. This…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of portfolio assessment on EFL learners' reading comprehension ability. 50 EFL language learners at intermediate level all female from a private institute were selected for this purpose. Then they were randomly divided into the control and experimental group. The control group received the…

Communication and transparency are fundamental ideals underlying the "Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR; Council of Europe 2001). The CEFR has facilitated communication immensely, as teachers, students, publishers, policy makers and examination boards all now make reference to the CEFR…

While a number of studies have investigated the relationship between motivation and foreign or second language learning outcomes, the process of how such motivation transforms into successful learning outcomes is relatively unexplored. Interviewing a group of four participants, this study seeks to understand how college English as a Foreign…

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the use of formulaic sequences (FSs), speaking ability and speech fluency. Formulae form a considerable portion of native-speakers' speech and mastering them helps learners to appear more native-like. In this study 41 learners of English were interviewed and their speech fluency, level of…

The present article reports on the results of a study designed to investigate the effects of two types of lexical modification i.e., lexical simplification and elaboration, on incidental vocabulary acquisition of Iranian EFL learners.To this end, four versions of experimental texts containing 20 target words were created: baseline and simplified…

Previous studies on hesitation strategies used by beginner or advanced L2 learners revealed that beginners mostly leave their hesitation pauses unfilled which causes their speech to sound disfluent, and advanced learners tend to use various fillers in order to sound like native speakers. The present paper reports on a study which investigated the…

Through the Common Core State Standards and the development of new assessments aligned to the standards, the public education system is undergoing a transformation--and administrators can help make this vision a reality. Today, more than 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards. The standards, however,…

The increasing number of international students enrolled in Australian universities over the last decade has met with a corresponding concern that many non-English-speaking background (NESB) students experience considerable difficulty in their courses. Consequently, concerns about admission procedures have been raised regarding how English…

In today's audiovisually driven world, various audiovisual programs can be incorporated as authentic sources of potential language input for second language acquisition. In line with this view, the present research aimed at discovering the effectiveness of exposure to news, cartoons, and films as three different types of authentic audiovisual…

Many learners of a foreign language (L2) struggle to correctly pronounce newly learned speech sounds, yet many others achieve this with apparent ease. Here we explored how a training study of learning complex consonant clusters at the very onset of L2 acquisition can inform us about L2 learning in general and individual differences in particular.…

Assuring that English learners (ELs) receive the support services to which they are entitled requires accurately identifying students who are limited in their English proficiency. As a first step in the identification process, students' parents fill out a home language survey. If the survey indicates a language other than English is spoken in the…