The current paper attempts to account for the formation of English middle sentences. Discussing a set of previous analyses on the construction under investigation we show, following the assumptions of Oosten(1986) and Iwata(1999), that English middle constructions should be divided into two types: generic middle constructions and non-generic…

This study investigates whether two different means of learning the word sequence "despite the fact (that)" lead to differential outcomes of the acquisition of the grammatical structure imbedded in the word string which is, due to L1 transfer, especially problematic for Chinese learners of English. The participants of the study were randomly…

The aim of the current research is to investigate the effects of textual modification upon the distribution of specific linguistic features of news texts when authors adopt an intuitive approach to simplification. The research focuses on the distribution and use of relative clauses (RCs) across three levels of simplification. The analysis of news…

Although an important role has been ascribed to working-memory capacity in reading comprehension, little consensus exists on its conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement except for its recognition as a limited-capacity processing and storage system. One specific problem in the measurement of working memory comes from researchers' use…

Building on Sheen's (2007) study of the effects of written corrective feedback (CF) on the acquisition of English articles, this article investigated whether direct focused CF, direct unfocused CF and writing practice alone produced differential effects on the accurate use of grammatical forms by adult ESL learners. Using six intact adult ESL…

In New Zealand, as in other countries, increasing numbers of students are learning English through immersion in the mainstream curriculum. These students are reliant on their teachers' planning for language form in their content teaching. In addition, there are many native speaker students whose learning difficulties are linguistic in origin and…

This study builds on the concept that aural-written verification helps L2 learners develop auditory discrimination skills, refine word recognition and gain awareness of form-meaning relationships, by comparing two modes of aural input: reading while listening (R/L) vs. listening only (L/O). Two test tasks (sequencing and gap filling) of 95 items,…

Foreign language anxiety is a psychological factor that may crucially affect student performance. Although many researchers have investigated the effect of anxiety, few have studied listening comprehension. In particular, listening anxiety among language teachers has yet to be examined. This article reports the results of a study on foreign…

For research into language development in L2 writing to have any relevance, it has to be situated within a framework of decisions in writing pedagogy. Furthermore, a perspective on L2 language development cannot be limited only to accuracy levels. Even if this is the case, it is counter-intuitive that further input may be detrimental to language…

This investigation examines Thai college students' motivational goals for learning the English language. Thai student volunteers (N = 1387) from two types of educational institutions participated in this survey study which combined measures of goal orientations based on two different goal constructs and motivation models. Results of two-step…

Skilled readers are often characterized as more metacognitively aware than less skilled readers. This questionnaire study of 160 students at a medical university in Bahrain compared reported academic reading strategy use of readers at varying initial English proficiency level and year of study. While all students reported high use of strategies…

This study evaluates the concurrent validity of an on-line Yes/No test of recognition vocabulary as a placement tool at an Australian English language school. Newly entering students (n = 88) completed a Yes/No test, which measured accuracy and speed of response, and a school placement battery consisting of grammar, writing, speaking and listening…

A consideration of emotion has been traditionally neglected in the context of teaching and teacher education. This has begun to change with the recent research on emotional intelligence (EI). It is highly likely that emotionally intelligent individuals could provide help in how to manage emotions to less emotionally intelligent individuals.…

The study reported in this paper was conducted to examine the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers' emotional intelligence and their self-efficacy in Language Institutes. To this end, 89 EFL teachers were selected from different Language Institutes in Mashhad, a city in north-east of Iran. The participants were asked to complete the…

The present study describes the process that was followed in the construction and validation of the foreign language attitudes and goals survey (FLAGS), a new questionnaire based on qualitative data from Tragant and Munoz [Tragant, Munoz, C., 2000. "La motivacion y su relacion con la edad en un contexto escolar de aprendizaje de una lengua…