Summarizes recent psychological research and theory on the topic of consciousness, and looks at three questions in second-language learning related to the role of consciousness in input processing. The discussion involves the requirement in learning a second language of subliminal learning, implicit learning, and incidental learning. (142…

Examines the production of yes/no questions by native speakers of English and speakers of Singapore English, a non-native regional variety. The findings suggest that what constitutes target-like use remains ill-defined as long as native speaker behavior is assumed, or intuited, rather than documented. (40 references) (GLR)

Discusses prominent base units of discourse analysis designed for dealing with structural characteristics of second-language discourse, and offers arguments in favor of selecting the utterance as a valuable base unit. (95 references) (GLR)

Examines the issue of giving English-language oral proficiency examinations in overseas English-medium universities as part of student evaluations. An oral test given at Jordan's Yarmouk University is reviewed showing an attempt to administer biannual, oral-communicative-proficiency tests to 1,000 students at a time. (24 references) (GLR)

Two issues are addressed: (1) the scope of linguistics, and (2) the social justice issue of police procedures for dealing with limited proficiency speakers of majority languages. These are explored by examining evidence produced by police in court and the language addressed to second-language speakers by police, particularly official cautions.…

Describes an alternative approach to traditional English-as-a-Second-Language presentation of the (Z) and (D) morphemes. Learners from different backgrounds and proficiency levels who used orthography-based approaches improved their oral accuracy to the extent that performance differences resulting from disparate language backgrounds disappeared.…

A coding scheme based on a text-processing model was employed to compare summary protocols produced by university English-as-a-Second-Language students at two proficiency levels. Significant differences between groups were found in replication of original-text sentences and combinations of idea units taken from multiple punctuated sentences. (37…

Recent research into the use of articulatory movements by the deaf has revealed the significance of this visual input, but research into the speech perception of the blind has demonstrated the significance of its loss. The implications of these findings for teaching and testing foreign language listening skills are considered. (Author/JL)

Native speaking learners of English were compared with foreign learners with regard to confusion of "synforms" (similar lexical forms). Synform-induced errors were similar in native speaking learners and foreign learners indicating that all learners, native and foreign, follow coinciding developmental sequences. (24 references) (Author/JL)

The expressions of the English modal auxiliaries "can,""could,""may," and "might" by 75 Panjabi-speaking students were studied. Students who were exposed to English at an earlier age showed better comprehension of verb forms. Modal acquisition by these second-language students mirrored that observed in native speakers. (39 references) (Author/JL)

Reviews a study that was designed to find evidence of factors influencing the kind of interaction found in small-group work in language learning among young adult English teacher trainees in a developing country. (22 references) (GLR)

Considers the characteristics of a radical syllabus type in communicative language teaching known as the Process or Negotiated syllabus. The Negotiated syllabus model's difference from other types, its potential difficulties in implementation, and the degree to which the model might contribute to an eclectic approach in syllabus design are…

Examines Nigeria's language policies in terms of (1) the historical, sociolinguistic, political, educational, and ideological contexts in which they arose; (2) their impact on patterns of language choice and use in education and other aspects of life; and (3) their implications for the theory and practice of language planning. (51 references) (GLR)

Argues that the Vygotskyan hypothesis of regulation offers a psycholinguistic framework that could lend assistance in understanding more fully some of the principles underlying task-based approaches to second-language teaching. (51 references) (GLR)

Presents the results of two studies that examined epenthesis before three word-initial onsets of the form /sC1/ in English (where C1 represents a voiceless stop). One study examined whether frequency of epenthesis before /sC1/ was influenced by environment; the second study tested three specific statistical hypotheses based upon results from the…