Provides an historical sketch of form-focused instruction research, defines what is meant by form-focused instruction, and discusses the main research methods that have been used to investigate form-focused instruction in terms of a broad distinction between confirmatory and interpretive research. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the sincerity and validity of uptake as a measure of language learning by comparing the words students report they have learned after completing a listening task with the words they score correctly on a translation test. Results indicate that whereas uptake may have construct validity, its concurrent validity is uncertain. (16…

Studied the relationship between modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings by Japanese high school students. Results include a strong relationship between comprehension and word meaning acquisition was only evident in a test replicating learning format; and rate of word acquisition was faster with the premodified input. (54…

Examines theoretical views of language use, learning, and teaching that underlie the work on tasks. Two broad and disparate views are identified: the psycholinguistic perspective and a perspective based on sociocultural theory. (Author/VWL)

Provides an explanation for the existence of free variation in learner language. Argues that interlanguage is best conceptualized as sets of loose lexical networks that are gradually reorganized into a system or systems. Free variation arises when learners add items to those they have already acquired and before they analyze these items and…

A number of theories of second language L2 acquisition acknowledge a role for explicit L2 knowledge. However, the testing of these theories remains problematic because of the lack of a widely accepted means for measuring L2 explicit knowledge. This article seeks to address this lacuna by examining L2 explicit knowledge from two perspectives.…

This article is a response to Sheen and O'Neill's (2005) critique of our paper entitled "Teachers' stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their classroom practice" (Basturkmen et al., 2004). In addition, it seeks to clarify a number of common misunderstandings about focus on form (e.g. that "form" refers exclusively to grammar and that…

This article reviews previous studies of the effects of implicit and explicit corrective feedback on SLA, pointing out a number of methodological problems. It then reports on a new study of the effects of these two types of corrective feedback on the acquisition of past tense -ed. In an experimental design (two experimental groups and a control…

Investigated the effects of both pre-task and on-line planning on second language (L2) oral production. Results show that pre-task planning enhances grammatical complexity while on-line planning positively influences accuracy and grammatical complexity. Pre-task planners also produced more fluent and lexically varied language than the on-line…

Reports on the effects of meaning negotiation on young children's acquisition of English-as-a-Second-Language word meanings while they listened individually and in small groups to directions containing words unknown to them and to encouragement to negotiate their understanding of the directions. Results show that the children varied in their…

Reports an experimental study of the differential effects of premodified input, internationally modified input, and modified output on the comprehension of directions in a listen-and-do task and the acquisition of new words embedded in the directions. (Author/VWL)

Two studies investigated the effects of modified interaction on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition among Japanese high school students learning English as a Second Language. The studies found that interactionally modified input resulted in better comprehension and the acquisition of more new words than premodified input. (MDM)

A study of six adult learners of English as a Second Language provides some evidence to suggest that pushing learners to produce more accurate output contributes to acquisition. The data also demonstrate how this might be achieved through focused communication tasks. (Contains 11 references.) (Author)

Explores ways of measuring implicit and explicit second language (L2) knowledge and examines the relationship between these measures and measures of general language proficiency. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution, reflecting a clear distinction between measures that incorporated a time constraint and those that did not. (Author/VWL)

Building on previous studies of the effects of planning on second language (L2) learners' oral narratives and drawing on Kellog's (1996) model of writing, this article reports a study of the effects of three types of planning conditions (pretask planning, unpressured on-line planning, and no planning) on 42 Chinese learners' written narratives…