Examines whether differences exist in the provision and use of negative feedback, according to the age of the learners and the context of the interaction. Data were collected from 20 classrooms (20 adult and 10 child English-as-Second-Language classes) and 32 native speaker-nonnative speaker dyads (16 adult and 16 child). (Author/VWL)

Reports on research examining whether first language learners do not include regular plural [-s] inflection within compounds, whereas they do include irregulars. Adolescent francophone English-as-Second-Language students and 15 adult native-speaker controls were required to generate novel compounds in English. Results report regular plurals were…

To understand students' reaction to feedback, path analysis was used to generate models of student writing activity. Results suggest that Taiwan business English writing students may implement proofreading and self-directed redrafting behaviors aimed towards improving their writing when objective sentence-level error feedback is supplied with no…

Examines the impact of interaction enhancement (IE) on the learning of English articles. IE is a treatment that guides learners to focus on form by providing interactional modifications and leads learners to produce modified output within a problem-solving task (strategic interaction). (Author/VWL)

Reviews research that has been emerging from the availability of corpora on the grammar of spoken English. Presents arguments for the view that spoken and written language utilize the same basic grammatical repertoire, however different their implementations of it are. (Author/VWL)

Summarized findings from experimental and quasi-experimental investigations into the effectiveness of second language instruction. Comparisons of average effect sizes from sample studies indicated focused second language instruction results in large target-oriented gains, explicit types of instruction are more effective than implicit types, and…

Investigates the hypothesis that a more field-dependent cognitive style may be adaptive for certain components of second language proficiency. Native English speakers or students of English as a Second Language (ESL) completed measures of language proficiency and field dependence-independence (FDI). Native English speakers performed better than…

Presents a Web-based, cross-cultural, curricular initiative entitled, "Cultura," designed to develop foreign language students' understanding of foreign cultural attitudes, concepts, beliefs, and ways of interacting and looking at the world. Focuses on the pedagogy of electronic media, with particular emphasis on the ways the Web can be used to…

Examines the nature of peer exchanges in two partial network-based classes and the conflicts learners face in this situation where all information is text-based and archived. Provides a picture of how learners used the available technology to interact with peers and their comments on how this mode of delivery extended their traditional notions of…

Examines whether electronic mail writing will improve academic writing abilities. Nonnative students in an intermediate pre-academic English-as-a-Second-Language course responded to writing prompts using electronic mail and word processing. Their writing was examined for differences in uses of cohesive features, length of text produced in each…

Discusses 16 well-reviewed software products designed for elementary grade students--those products that make explicit claims about developing students' lexical knowledge and those that do not. Also examines the potential of technology to enhance vocabulary learning. (Author/VWL)

Examines which of the image modalities--dynamic video or still picture--is more effective in aiding vocabulary acquisition. Thirty English-as-a-Second-Language students were introduced to a hypermedia-learning program, designed for reading comprehension. Concludes that a video clip is more effective in teaching unknown vocabulary words than a…

Addresses issues surrounding the effect of mode of presentation on second language (L2) reading test performance, reviewing the literature in cognitive ability testing in educational and psychological measurement and the non-assessment literature in ergonomics, education, psychology, and first language reading research. Generalization of the…

Examined attitudes toward taking different formats of oral proficiency assessments across three languages: Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese. Students were administered both the tape-mediated Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) and a new Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI). Questionnaire responses showed examinees, particularly…

Describes what a Web-based language test (WBT) is, how WBTs differ from traditional computer-based tests, and what uses WBTs have in language testing. After a brief review of computer-based testing, WBTs are defined and categorized as low-tech or high tech. Advantages and design and implementation issues of WBTs are considered before examining the…