This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Latin American children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of children either developing bilingually (Spanish-English) or monolingually (English). The participating families were from Colombia, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and had…

The present article is part of a large-scale study conducted in Ontario that investigated gender differences in motivation to learn French. However, for this particular article second language (L2) motivation theory is the primary focus. Over the past 30 years of research, the study of L2 motivation has evolved. There appears to be a definite…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how focus-on-forms instruction in second language teaching affects attention to forms in two different types of task: constrained and free production. These two different types of task were administered to 87 university students enrolled in a first-year French as a second language course before and after…

This article presents a variationist analysis of verbs meaning "reside" in Ontario French. Four lexical variants are examined: "demeurer," "habiter," "rester" and "vivre." Results reveal that "rester" is used most often by unrestricted speakers and least often by those whose use of French is restricted. "Vivre" is found frequently in the speech of…

Through research and classroom observation undertaken while conceptualizing and implementing the Intensive French program in Canada, many new insights were gained into the development of communication skills in a classroom situation. Five lessons learned about the development of spontaneous oral communication are presented in this article: the…

Demonstrates how second language acquisition research can inform textbook writers and language teachers. Presents an analysis of 40 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) grammar textbooks, which shows that few mention unaccusative verbs or inappropriate passives in their presentation of active and passive voice. Offers suggestions for dealing with…

An English for academic purposes needs survey conducted at a Canadian university among first-year Bachelor's and Master's level students reveals native speakers (NS) and nonnative speakers (NNS) of English perceive that the language skills necessary for academic study are of different levels of difficulty. English language difficulties appear to…

Analyzes differences between experts and university students of various academic levels in the application of the macrorules of deletion, generalization, and construction of text summaries. Learners of French as a second language wrote summaries of a French text in French as well as in English, their mother tongue, while professors of French and…

Focuses on the indirection process presented in Searle's and Vanderveken's theory of speech acts: the performance of a primary speech act by means of the accomplishment of a secondary speech act. Discusses indirection mechanisms used in advertising and in political communication. (Author/VWL)

Examines the variable presence/absence of third person plural marking on French verbs in the speech of French immersion students. Considers both linguistic and social factors that condition variation and compares results with those found for native speakers of French. (Author/VWL)

Discusses part of a large-scale survey on the oral performance of advanced French-as-a-second-language students, as represented by recorded speech. Although schwa rarely leads to semantic confusions, its analysis in word-median or monosyllabic contexts shows interesting phonostylistic variations. (Author/VWL)

Examined Grade 8 French immersion students use and accuracy of pronominal verbs within one of two tasks--jigsaw or dictogloss--while working in pairs. Two groups of students viewed a videotaped mini-lesson on pronominal verbs, while another two did not. Found that the mini-lesson had a significant impact on students' use of pronominal verbs in…

Sets out 11 principles that relate second language teaching to more general theoretical perspectives on teaching. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that found that both first-language summarizing skills and second language proficiency affect second language summarizing skills, with the exception of inclusion of main ideas and amount of distortion that are more affected by first language summarizing skills. (Author/VWL)

Demonstrates how multimedia tools can be combined with an enunciation based analysis of the French verb system in order to develop innovative ways of teaching the imparfait and passe compose. (Author/VWL)