Discussion of the roles of input and output has been attracting a number of researchers in second language acquisition (e.g., DeKeyser, 2007; Doughty, 1991; Krashen, 1982; Long, 1983; Norris & Ortega, 2000; Swain, 2000), and VanPatten (2004) advocated that both structured input and structured output allow learners to process input properly.…

The widespread growth in availability and use of smartphones and tablets has facilitated an unprecedented avalanche of new software applications with language learning and teaching capabilities. However, little has been published in terms of effective design and evaluation of language learning apps. This article reviews current research about the…

Purpose: The utility of parent and teacher reports for screening 3 types of bilingual preschoolers (English-first language [L1]/Mandarin-second language[L2], Mandarin-L1/English-L2, or Malay-L1/English-L2) for language difficulty was investigated in Singapore with reference to measures of reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity in an…

Action research was undertaken to begin to explore the possibility of improving second-language Thai college student performance on completion questions by using bolded and underscored words in test item stems, called "assist devices." This intervention was designed to focus student attention on key terms. Twenty-one students, in an…

The aim of this paper is to describe ideas that students learning Turkish in Lithuania have about Turkish culture and Turkish people. A descriptive method was used in the research. The data for the research was collected from 15 students who learn Turkish at Vilnius University in Vilnius, Lithuania. For the participating in the research students,…

Foreign-accented speech is generally harder to understand than native-accented speech. This difficulty is reduced for non-native listeners who share their first language with the non-native speaker. It is currently unclear, however, how non-native listeners deal with foreign-accented speech produced by speakers of a different language. We show…

The pedagogical and theoretical questions addressed in this study relate to the extent to which native Japanese readers with little or no knowledge of Chinese characters recognize Chinese characters that are viewed as abbreviations of the kanji they already know. Three graphic similarity functions (i.e., an orthographically acceptable similarity,…

Many human languages have complex grammatical machinery devoted to temporality, but very little is known about how this came about. This paper investigates how people convey temporal information when they cannot use any conventional languages they know. In a laboratory experiment, adult participants were asked to convey information about simple…

Native speakers seamlessly marshal morphological resources to create new words, displaying striking consistency even where multiple options are available, as when a stem contains a phonological alternation. This is true even when these options appear to be idiosyncratically applied in existing words. For example, in derived words, the alternation…

This article discusses the phenomenon of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in instructed additional language settings. It begins from the premise that, despite considerable theoretical and empirical support, TBLT remains a contested endeavour. Critics of TBLT argue that, particularly with regard to time-limited foreign language instructional…

Those of us in North America, Europe, many parts of Central and South America, and eastern Asia live in a digital world, and there has been ongoing debate about technology and learning. In other parts of the world, such as the African continent and much of central and south central Asia, there is evidence of a digital invasion, but it is still not…

This study tests the theoretical predictions regarding effects of increasing task complexity (Robinson, 2001a, 2001b, 2007, 2010; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007) for second language (L2) pronunciation. Specifically, we examine whether more complex tasks (a) lead to greater incidence of pronunciation-focused language-related episodes (LREs) and (b)…

Second language (L2) research relies heavily and increasingly on ANOVA (analysis of variance)-based results as a means to advance theory and practice. This fact alone should merit some reflection on the utility and value of ANOVA. It is possible that we could use this procedure more appropriately and, as argued here, other analyses such as…

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners' first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish…

This paper considers research and practice relating to listening in instructed classroom settings, limiting itself to what might be called unidirectional listening (Macaro, Graham & Vanderplank 2007)--in other words, where learners listen to a recording, a TV or radio clip or lecture, but where there is no communication back to the speaker(s).…