The aim of the current study is to investigate motion event cognition in second language learners in a higher education context. Based on recent findings that speakers of grammatical aspect languages like English attend less to the endpoint (goal) of events than do speakers of nonaspect languages like Swedish in a nonverbal categorization task…

Community service learning (CSL) is a type of experiential learning that blends specific course content with real-world applications and ties them together through structured reflection. It is an ideal pedagogy for 21st-century language for specific purposes (LSP) programs. This article frames that argument around sociocultural theory, moves to a…

Although it has existed for many decades in the national curriculum of U.S. higher education, the study of languages for business purposes has lacked a more serviceable and academically communal name--a more rigorous toponymic identity--by which to identify itself as a theory-based field of scholarship. The intention here is to propose for…

Incidental focus on form is one of several ways to direct language learners' attention to formal aspects of language within meaningful communicative contexts. Learners can benefit from focus on form, but the extent to which incidental focus on form, or any other type, is available to learners in advanced foreign language literature classes has not…

Swain (1985) pointed out the need for increased modified output in the classroom in order to encourage learners to engage in more syntactic processing and, thus, make more form-meaning connections. Research in content-based instruction (CBI) ( Musumeci, 1996; Pica, 2002) has revealed few occasions of pushed modified output from learners.…

The author summarizes and interprets data collected while he was a visiting scholar in a foreign language (FL) department at a large U.S. public research university. This qualitative case study focuses on: (a) the process of developing widely acclaimed Web-based beginning FL teaching software, and (b) the political implications of the development…

Demonstrates that cues play a significant role in second language listening comprehension and provides additional empirical support for their beneficial effect. Found that the absence of cues appeared to contribute significantly to the miscomprehension of information in a lecture. (Author/VWL)

Explores questions related to who educational policymakers are in the United States, the policies that they make, and the implications of these policies for foreign languages. Six commentaries are provided in response to the topic. (Author/VWL)

A Hong Kong study concerning the learning of English vocabulary by Cantonese speakers aimed to find out the vocabulary size of the tertiary students and whether they need help with academic vocabulary, to identify strategies that are conducive to learning vocabulary in general and the strategies that are especially useful for learning high- and…

This group of articles contains a discussion and commentaries on implications of language education policies for language study in schools and universities. The situation in Africa, Europe, Japan, and Latin America are highlighted. (Author/VWL)

Presents the results of an anonymous, Internet-based questionnaire study on target language and first language use in university-level foreign language classes. Goals were to develop preliminary components of a descriptive model of target language and first language use and explore the relationships between target language and student anxiety…

Examines how social, cultural, and institutional affordances and constraints in a telecollaborative foreign language learning partnership shape the agency of online teachers. Details how various aspects of school and schooling impact the negotiation, execution and management of a German-American virtual course from the perspectives of the…

Explains how conducting ethnographic interviews can promote openness toward culture learning. Reports on a study in which 35 college students from second-year Spanish classes were introduced to ethnographic interviewing skills and assigned to interview native speakers of Spanish. Results showed the interviews positively affected students'…

Compared classification theories of language learning strategies. Results from confirmatory factor analysis of data measured by the English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language (ESL/EFL) version of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning and collected from 517 college EFL learners are discussed. Suggests other possible approaches to strategy…

Presents the results of a needs assessment study carried out with university students who were preparing to work as health professionals. Questionnaire data gauged the students' expectations for language courses intended specifically for their areas of specialization. Analysis follows a multidimensional approach and examines profiles of the…