This paper presents a 2007 study that was conducted amongst 147 young anglophone, francophone and allophone Montrealers in order to shed light on their attitudes towards English and French in terms of status and solidarity. The study made use of both a questionnaire and a matched-guise experiment. The findings indicate that while a certain amount…

This comparative, classroom-based study investigated the effect and effectiveness of introducing a focus on form approach to a content-based, occupation-specific language program for adults. Thirty-six adults in two classes participated in a 10-week study. One group of 16 adults received content-based instruction that included a focus on form…

The study explores first language (L1) influences on the mechanisms of spelling in English as a foreign language (EFL). We hypothesized that the transparency of L1 orthography influences (a) the amount of hesitation associated with spelling irregular English words, and (b) the size of units EFL spellers operate. Participants were adult speakers of…

Implicit and explicit knowledge of the second language (L2) are two central constructs in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in obtaining valid and reliable measures of L2 learners' implicit and explicit knowledge (e.g., Bowles, 2011; R. Ellis, 2005). The purpose of the present study…

This study examines strategies (inferencing and ignoring) and knowledge sources (semantics, morphology, paralinguistics, etc.) that second language learners of English use to process unfamiliar words in listening comprehension and whether the use of strategies or knowledge sources relates to successful text comprehension or word comprehension.…

In this paper, I investigate the phenomenon of morphological variability in the production of Italian determiners, descriptive adjectives, and direct object pronouns by adult English learners of Italian to determine whether morphological errors are the result of computational or representational difficulties. Second language acquisitionists do…

This article reports on French as a second language (FSL) teachers' perceptions of using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)-informed instruction (action-oriented instruction focusing on language use) in FSL classrooms in Ontario. In particular, this paper focuses on teachers' perspectives of the strengths and challenges of providing…

This paper focuses on an action research project set in the context of one professional learning community's (PLC's) exploration of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP). Teachers of second and foreign languages in a large urban high school examined the potential of principles and tools related…

Recent research in the fields of motivation and learner autonomy in language learning has begun to explore their relationships to the construct of identity. This article builds on this through the voices of a group of six learners of French or German in a secondary school in England, over a two-year period. These young learners initially reveal a…

In 2010, the British Columbia Ministry of Education introduced an updated version of its international languages curricula titled Additional Languages (AL) draft curriculum which set out a clear articulation of the province's language education as conceived and developed over the past 15 years. The strength of the draft curriculum lies in its…

Over the last decade, almost 4,000 Canadian schools have moved to using the Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM) for core French (CF) instruction. Following researchers' recommendations (Brumfit, 1984; Lapkin, Mady, & Arnott, 2009; Larsen-Freeman, 1996, 2000; Prahbu, 1990), I am shifting the focus in this case study from product to process. In…

This article investigates a language learner's cognitive ability (i.e., form-orientation) in detecting the corrective nature of non-salient feedback, by reviewing the operationalizations and reported effectiveness of recasts in recent SLA literature. Two directionalities which seem to have resulted in the divergent findings of recast effectiveness…

In this paper I examine similarities and differences between the required knowledge base of teachers of English as a second language (ESL) and French as a second language (FSL) for teaching in Kindergarten through Grade 12 programs in Canada. Drawing on knowledge base frameworks in language teacher education (Freeman and Johnson, 1998; Richards,…

Vygotsky's writings have established the critical importance of language in the development of higher mental functions, including memory and attention. One of the processes involved in this development is languaging, the activity of mediating cognitively complex ideas using language (Swain, 2006). The present study of an older adult with mild…

Despite a strong intuitive sense held by instructors that feedback practices can help scaffold L2 writers' composition processes a number of questions remain concerning the manner best suited to deliver this feedback and its ultimate impact on literacy development. This paper presents findings from on an eight-month longitudinal ethnographic case…