The present study investigates the possibilities for adult learners to attain nativelikeness in the domain of lexis. Aspects investigated are general lexical knowledge (C-test), receptive deep knowledge, productive collocation knowledge, and productive lexico-pragmatic knowledge in a group of long-residency Swedish French second language (L2)…

The present article examines discourses on bilingualism in French immersion schools and connects local ideologies of bilingualism to a more global view of what it means to be bilingual in Canada. Bilingualism is usually regarded as two isolated monolingualisms (or monolingual systems) in which there is no place for code-switching, uneven language…

There is growing interest in language barriers in health care (LBHC)--interest, that is, in how the quality of health care service delivery might be compromised when patients and health care providers do not share the same first language. This article discusses LBHC as an emerging research area that provides valuable opportunities for researchers…

In Canada, education in French as a second language (FSL) offers students the opportunity to learn a second official language. Is such an opportunity appropriate for allophone students who are still in the process of learning English? This literature review provides a fourfold consideration of the issue. Section 1 examines the political response…

This article first presents an overview of some trends behind the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in a second language. A study is then presented that aims to test the validity of these trends in a quantitative study of a range of socio- and morpho-phonetic variables in French, including liaison, /l/ deletion, and subject-verb agreement…

The study drew on an 80,000-word corpus consisting of narrative texts produced in response to picture prompts by 210 beginner-level francophone learners of English (11-12-year-olds). The unique feature of the corpus is its longitudinal character: The samples were collected at four 100-hour intervals of intensive language instruction, during which…

This article argues that "triadic dialogue" (Lemke, 1990), much criticized in the past, has an important role to play in L2 learning and that its effectiveness should be judged in accordance with the particular pedagogical goals that it is made to serve. Drawing on three recent studies of L2 classrooms in a variety of instructional settings, the…

Discusses the possibilities of working with high school students as researchers of culture and language in their own school communities. Features a short ethnographic play entitled, "No Pain, No Gain," which dramatizes the difficulty of preparing an oral presentation in a second language. (Author/VWL)

Examines when and how much the target language (TL) should be used in second language and foreign language teaching and why. Agrees with the view that second and foreign language teachers should maximize their use of the TL, and argues that doing so benefits students' TL proficiency. Highlights disadvantages when teachers rely too heavily on the…

Explores the phenomenon of second language speech fluency and how it may be facilitated through instruction. An overview of research on fluency in second language speech is presented; empirical research is discussed in light of psycholinguistic knowledge about mental processes underlying second language production, and a model is posited that…

Discusses research on English-as-Second-Language for the workplace, identifying gaps in existing literature and promising directions for new explorations. A qualitative study was conducted in one type of program for immigrant women and men in Western Canada seeking to become long-term resident care aides or home support workers. (Author/VWL)

Draws on sociocultural theories of language and learning and research on bilingual families to examine home language practices of trilingual-immersion students. Ethnography was used to explore daily language use at home, children's views of their identity as trilingual, families' values of maintenance and additional language learning, and reasons…

Discusses children's concept development and exploratory talk in the primary years of early French immersion (K-3). Data from a case study of a primary program is related to personal teaching experience and research in language and learning and developmental psychology. Suggests possible approaches to enhancing concept development and exploratory…

Discusses the need to incorporate form-focused activities into second-language communication instruction, and suggests pedagogical strategies for doing so. Provides examples of tasks that may help realize this goal. Examines relevant empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such tasks. (Author/MSE)

Argues that oral grammar correction in second-language classrooms produces overwhelming problems both in making corrections and dealing with their harmful side effects, and that the practice should be discontinued. Research evidence suggests that oral correction does not improve learners' ability to speak grammatically, and no good reasons have…