American KFL (Korean as a foreign language) students' communicative success depends to a large extent on their ability to express interpersonal meanings with target-language resources. However, information regarding how KFL students acquire, or fail to learn linguistic politeness through classroom learning is scarce. The nature of this study is…

This study examines the pedagogical and pragmatic motives behind error correction both in classroom contexts and in everyday conversation among native Spanish-speaking English teachers in Costa Rica. Survey and interview data are analyzed and discussed in terms of participants' attitudes toward correction of errors in L1 and L2 in various…

Leow (2001a) employed concurrent data elicitation procedures (think aloud protocols) to investigate the benefits of textual enhancement, premised on the roles of attention and awareness (noticing), in second/foreign language (L2) learning. The present study follows this methodological approach to further investigate these benefits in addition to…

This study examined input enhancement and second language (L2) vocabulary learning while exploring the role of "distinctiveness," the degree to which an item in the input diverges from the form in which other items in the input are presented, with regard to the nature and direction of the effects of enhancement. In this study,…

Identified changes in 48 nonnative speakers' (NNSs) pronunciation over a period of 12 weeks as a result of the type of instruction they received--global, segmental, and no specific pronunciation instruction. Implications for pronunciation instruction are drawn from the results. (Author/VWL)

Measured self-efficacy and learning goal orientation in the foreign language learning domain. Investigated relationships between self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and foreign language achievement. Students studying German at Pennsylvania State University completed the new instrument--the Measure of Foreign Language Achievement (MOFLAP).…

Two studies clarified instructional effects of review quizzes as part of assessment. In one, a survey instrument was administered to Japanese college students, inquiring if they would like to have quizzes as part of assessment. In the second, a different set of students in the following year's Japanese course were allowed to choose whether they…

Describes a personal vision of the National Museum of Language. Envisions it as a place dedicated to the preservation of U.S. language heritage and as a place where every American can find information and Inspiration on all language matters. (Author/VWL)

Responds to Robert Kaplan's discussion of language teaching and language policy presented in a earlier article. Special attention is given to the idea that attempts to modify the use of Spanish in the United States should pay greater attention to conditions in Latin America. (Author/VWL)

The study set out to investigate how textual enhancement (TE) as a form of input enhancement and increasing the comprehensibility of input via simplified input (SI) might impact adult L2 French learners' acquisition of the past participle agreement in relative clauses and their comprehension of three texts in which the target forms were embedded.…

Presents a comparative analysis of median frequency rates of explicit cohesive devices employed in academic texts of students who were speakers of English, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Arabic. Specific focus is on cohesive devices, such as phrase-level coordinators, sentence transitions, logical-semantic conjunctions, demonstrative pronouns,…

Proposes a model for the inclusion of a pronunciation teaching unit within second language/foreign language teacher preparation programs. A pilot course was offered at the University of Kansas in 1998. It was expected that this component would give prospective language teachers the requisite background for making decisions concerning pronunciation…

Addresses technical and learning issues relating to a formative implementation of a computer assisted language learning (CALL) browser-based intermediate Russian program. Instruction took place through a distance education implementation and in a grouped classroom using a local-area network. Learners indicated the software was clear, motivating,…

Verified the validity of the critical period hypothesis for the Slovak language. Recordings and short essays of native speakers of Slovak and nonnative bilinguals were evaluated by native Slovak judges. Studied critical period hypothesis for language and speech, relationships between age and education of judges, and correct identification scores.…

Focuses on the evolution of an assessment scheme implemented in an English for academic purposes (EAP) process writing course that sought to meet the assessment needs of three different audiences: learners, teachers, outsiders. Assessment plans and revisions are described. (Author/VWL)