Showing papers in "The Modern Language Journal in 2014"

Teaching Foreign Languages in an Era of Globalization: Introduction

Abstract: Through its mobility of people and capital, its global technologies, and its global information networks, globalization has changed the conditions under which foreign languages (FLs) are taught, learned, and used. It has destabilized the codes, norms, and conventions that FL educators relied upon to help learners be successful users of the language once they had left their classrooms. These changes call for a more reflective, interpretive, historically grounded, and politically engaged pedagogy than was called for by the communicative language teaching of the eighties. This special issue will explore how we are to conceive of such a pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reframing the Debate on Language Separation: Toward a Vision for Translanguaging Pedagogies in the Dual Language Classroom

Abstract: The policy of strict separation of languages for academic instruction dominates dual language bilingual education programming. This article explores the dynamic bilingual practices of two experienced bilingual teachers in a two-way dual language public school in Texas and contributes to current research problematizing language separation. Data included interviews, field notes, and classroom interaction video in a pre-kindergarten and a first grade classroom. The instructional practices of the two teachers suggested powerful strategies to promote bilingual identities. Drawing on identity theory, particularly the notions of positioning and investment, we attempt to contribute to recent research offering teachers potential translanguaging instructional strategies. These strategies include: (a) modeling dynamic bilingual language practices, (b) positioning students as bilingual (even before they are), and (c) celebrating and drawing attention to language crossing. In combining these strategies, teachers move toward using students' bilingual language practices as a resource for academic instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Motion of Emotion: Idiodynamic Case Studies of Learners' Foreign Language Anxiety

Abstract: Language learning is an emotionally and psychologically dynamic process that is influenced by a myriad of ever-changing variables and emotional “vibes” that produce moment-by-moment fluctuations in learners' adaptation. This individual-level study triangulates physiological, idiodynamic, interview, and self-report survey data of three high and three low anxiety language learners to examine their language anxiety, its triggers, and the interpretations of rapidly changing affective reactions over a short period of time. Participants were videorecorded giving a presentation, while wearing heart monitors, in their Spanish as a Foreign Language class. Using the idiodynamic method, participants self-rated their moment-by-moment anxiety 42 times over three and a half minutes and later explained their reactions in an interview. The strong relationship observed among the various converging data sources demonstrates the strength of considering language learners on an individual level using triangulated quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study generated pedagogical implications for dealing with both positive and negative emotions, facilitating the reinterpretation of physiological cues, planning “escape routes” that allow participants to remain active in communication exchanges, and invoking the positive power of preparation, planning, and rehearsal.

Technology as Pharmakon: The Promise and Perils of the Internet for Foreign Language Education

Abstract: Globalization and networking technologies have transformed the contexts, means, and uses of foreign language learning. The Internet offers a vast array of texts, films, music, news, information, pedagogical resources, sounds, and images from around the world as well as unprecedented opportunities for direct communication with native speakers in real time. However, the very technology that delivers these materials and interactions can produce subtle mediational effects that can influence how learners evaluate and interpret them. Focusing first on technological mediation broadly, and then on the specific context of desktop videoconferencing in a telecollaboration project, this article outlines the benefits and the potential pitfalls that computer mediation presents for the learning of languages and cultures. Specific attention is given to the question of what it means to mediate the foreign culture through interfaces that are familiar from one's home culture. The principal argument is that the dynamics of online language learning call for a relational pedagogy that focuses on how medium and context interact with language use. The goal of such an approach is to expose students to a broader scope of symbolic inquiry, to connect present text-making practices with those of the past, and to foster a critical perspective that will prepare young people to understand and shape future language and literacy practices.

Motivational Dynamics in Language Learning: Change, Stability, and Context.

Abstract: Motivation as a variable in L2 development is no longer seen as the stable individual difference factor it was once believed to be: Influenced by process-oriented models and principles, and especially by the growing understanding of how complex dynamic systems work, researchers have been focusing increasingly on the dynamic and changeable nature of the motivation process. In this study we micro-map the motivational dynamics of 4 language learners during their language lessons over a period of 2 weeks, using a novel instrument-the Motometer-combined with classroom observations and a questionnaire on motivation and attitude. The article answers three current questions concerning L2 motivation: (a) Can we demonstrate variability in students' L2 motivation in class; (b) Is there a detectable stable level of students' in-class motivation; and (c), If both of these are demonstrated, can they be accounted for by the classroom context? The results affirm that student motivation can be successfully explored using a dynamic systems framework. Our findings demonstrate how motivation changes over time on an individual level, while also being characterised by predictable and stable phases, and how it is inseparable from the learner's individual learning context. The data also show that motivation can be meaningfully studied at different interacting time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study quality in quantitative l2 research (1990-2010): A methodological synthesis and call for reform

Abstract: This article builds on the growing line of inquiry into methodological practices in quantitative second language (L2) research. Specifically, the study uses synthetic techniques to examine changes over time in research and reporting practices. 606 primary reports of quantitative L2 research from two journals- Language Learning and Studies in Second Language Acquisition-were surveyed on different design features, statistical analyses, and data reporting practices. Frequencies and percentages of each feature were then calculated and compared across the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s to examine changes taking place in the field. The results, while not necessarily representative of all substantive and methodological approaches within the domain of L2 research, indicate numerous changes including increases in sample sizes, delayed posttesting, and the availability of critical data such as effect sizes, reliability estimates, and standard deviations to accompany means. With respect to statistical procedures, the range of analyses has not changed, and the field continues its unfortunate reliance on statistical significance. The findings are grouped according to three themes, which are discussed in light of previous reviews in this and other fields: (a) means-based analyses, (b) missing data, null hypothesis significance testing, and the 'power problem,' and (c) design preferences. The article concludes with an extended call for reform targeting six groups of stakeholders in the field. Most notably, an argument is made for field-specific methodological standards and enhancements to graduate curricula and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring Heritage Language Anxiety: A Study of Chinese Heritage Language Learners

Abstract: The rapidly increasing population of heritage students within the recent expansion of Chinese language education leads us to explore anxiety levels specific to Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners. This study examines the anxiety profiles of 87 CHL learners, enrolled in separated heritage-track courses at two U. S. universities, from a larger sample of 192 Chinese language students. The results indicate that of the four language skill-based activities, writing provokes the most anxiety in CHL learners, and students' avoidance behavior was found to be strongest in the three subcomponents of writing anxiety. At the same time, correlations with the other three skill-based anxieties were the weakest, revealing the complex construct of CHL writing anxiety. Factor analysis and regression procedures indicate that a large portion of CHL writing anxiety is explained not only by factors of the second language writing process but also by factors associated with the learners' heritage identity. Finally, suggestions for a Heritage Language Anxiety Scale and pedagogical implications for CHL writing instruction are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Politics of Normativity and Globalization: Which Spanish in the Classroom?

Abstract: In this article, I introduce the debate on dialect choice in the teaching of Spanish. I first present an early 20th-century proposal by Spanish philologist Ramon Menendez Pidal (1918) and then move to two recent discussions: one within the Instituto Cervantes in the context of the international promotion of Spanish, and another in the context provided by the growth of the teaching of Spanish to heritage speakers in the United States. After considering the MLA (2007, 2009) reports on the role of languages in higher education, I conclude by embracing pedagogical options where, regardless of the choice of one particular norm, discussion of the development and operation of linguistic regimes becomes central in language instruction from the very early stages of the language program's curricular structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ideal ‘Native Speaker’ Teacher: Negotiating Authenticity and Legitimacy in the Language Classroom

Abstract: This article presents a linguistic ethnographic study of a Panjabi complementary school in Birmingham, UK. Researchers observed classes for one academic year, writing field notes, conducting interviews, and making digital audio recordings of linguistic interactions. Sets of beliefs about the production and deployment of certain linguistic signs were powerfully in play in the language learning classroom, as teachers and students negotiated what counts as the authenticity and legitimacy of the 'native speaker' teacher. Analysis of examples from empirical linguistic material focuses on the ways in which local practices constitute, and are related to, orders of indexicality and language ideologies. Analytical discussion offers an understanding of complex, situated, and nuanced negotiations of power in claiming and assigning authenticity and legitimacy in language learning contexts. The article considers the construction of the 'native speaker' heritage language teacher, and asks what counts as authentic and legitimate in teaching the community language, Panjabi, to a group of English-born young people who share Panjabi as a cultural and linguistic heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domesticating the Foreign: Globalization's Effects on the Place/s of Languages

Abstract: Foreign language education is deeply affected by globalization, destabilizing some of the central ideas that have helped form national languages, and, by contrast, foreign languages. This article traces the economic origins of contemporary globalization and the deep communication effects that arise. Migration of peoples, instantaneous communication technologies, and new modes of imagining relationships in the context of vast flows of population, ideas, goods, and communication mean that teachers of different languages need to make multilingual and multicultural realities, rather than national and foreign ones, central notions in curriculum, teaching, and language choice. Professional dialogue between teachers of English, traditional foreign languages, heritage/community languages, and other categories of language interest are required to foster a new overall understanding of the enterprise of language education, suited to the altered world context of contemporary globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning as Reciprocal, Interpretive Meaning‐Making: A View From Collaborative Research Into the Professional Learning of Teachers of Languages

Abstract: With globalization and advances in communication technologies, the movement of people and their ideas and knowledge has increased in ways and at a pace that are unprecedented. This movement changes the very nature of multilingualism and of language, culture, and language learning. Languages education, in this context, needs to build on the diversity of languages and other semiotic modes that learners bring to the classroom, as well as their diverse biographies and trajectories of experience, knowledge, language, and culture. Equally, the context demands a reconceptualization of the role of teachers of languages. Teachers enact the teaching of particular languages in their local context as members of distinctive multilingual and multicultural communities. They bring their own particular repertoires of languages, cultures, and histories of experiences that shape their frameworks of knowledge, understandings, values, and practices. It is these frameworks of interpretive resources that they use in mediating language learning with students who, in turn, use their own interpretive resources. In this article I draw on collaborative research with teachers of languages to investigate teacher understanding of the preconceptions, often tacit, that they bring to their teaching practice in the diverse interlinguistic and intercultural contexts of primary and secondary school education in Australia. I describe an expanded view of language, culture, and learning, the three fundamental concepts in languages education. Discussion follows on debates about the appropriate knowledge base and whether discourses about “learning to apply formal knowledge” and “best practice” in teacher professional learning are sufficient to assist in the development of teachers' capability to interpret their own teaching and learning practices and their students' learning as acts of reciprocal meaning-making in the context of local and global diversity.

How I See What You're Saying: The Role of Gestures in Native and Foreign Language Listening Comprehension

Abstract: In what ways do native language (NL) speakers and foreign language (FL) learners differ in understanding the same messages delivered with or without gestures? To answer this question, seventh- and eighth-grade NL and FL learners of English in the United States and Norway were shown a video of a speaker describing, in English, a cartoon image that the viewers could not see. For half the viewers, the speaker's gestures were visible; for the others they were not. Participants drew a picture of each description, which was later coded for recall of explicit information, comprehension of logically implied information, and distortions. Overall, NL listeners produced the most accurate drawings; the presence of gestures did not appreciably facilitate NL comprehension. In contrast, the availability of gestures had a measurable effect on FL listener performance: It enabled them to produce drawings within native-like range. However, lack of gestures negatively impacted FL listener comprehension and recall. Regardless of condition, distortions in FL responses were significantly more frequent than in NL responses. All participants reported valuing visual cues in communication, yet their understanding of their value for their actual drawing performance was inconsistent, suggesting a difference between visual cue preference and visual cue dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopolitics and the Changing Hierarchies of the Chinese Language: Implications for Policy and Practice of Chinese Language Teaching in Britain

Abstract: Chinese has been the fastest growing modern foreign language in British schools and universities in the last decade, due largely to the perceived growing importance of mainland China as a global economic and political power and the substantial investment in Confucius Institutes (CIs) and Classrooms (CCs) by the Chinese government. This article focuses on how China's geopolitical strategy of promoting Chinese as a global language has been received and implemented in the UK and how different groups of learners of Chinese have been differentially affected by the implementation of the policies of the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, commonly referred to as Hanban. Based on conversations with key stakeholders of the Confucius Institutes and Classrooms, including managers, teachers, and students, as well as observations in these settings, we investigate the different motivations and ideologies of the different interest groups. We also examine the cultural elements that are being taught in the CIs and CCs. A particular focus is on how ethnic Chinese learners in the CIs and CCs react to the teaching of Chinese culture. The effect of promoting Putonghua on ethnic Chinese students who speak other varieties of Chinese and how ‘foreignness’ is constructed in the CIs and CCs are specific concerns of the present study. The study contributes to the wider discussions of language ideology, language attitudes, motivations for language learning, and learner identity vis-a-vis modern foreign language education.

Scaffolded Feedback, Recasts, and L2 Development: A Sociocultural Perspective

Abstract: The study reported here investigated and compared the effects of scaffolded feedback and recasts on second language (L2) development. The concept of scaffolded feedback was operationalized based on Vygotsky's concepts of scaffolding and assisted performance. The study included 78 Persian EFL learners who were assigned to either a control group or one of two experimental groups. Learners in the experimental groups received either recasts or scaffolded feedback for their errors during task-based interactions with their interlocutors while learners in the control group performed the same task but received no feedback. Two dependent measures, an untimed grammaticality judgment test and an oral production task, were administered as pretests and posttests to investigate learners' achievements in the two experimental groups compared with the control condition. The results of data analysis revealed that scaffolded feedback contributed to higher levels of development compared with recasts. The study's findings and implications are discussed from several perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions, Attitudes, and Choosing to Study Foreign Languages in England: An Experimental Intervention.

Abstract: The declining interest in foreign languages in English-speaking countries has been attributed to negative societal attitudes and specific pupil attitudes and perceptions. While various initiatives have aimed to encourage language study, little research has systematically documented the relationship among perceptions, attitudes, and actually opting to study a language (henceforth, uptake). This article reports on an experiment involving 604 13/14-year-old pupils in 3 secondary schools in England that tested whether perceived relevance of languages can be improved through 2 different interventions (a panel discussion with external speakers versus a lesson with an external tutor) and whether pupil perceptions and attitudes can be linked explicitly to foreign language uptake at an optional level. Findings show that only pupils who participated in the panel discussion subsequently reported more positive attitudes and higher personal relevance of languages, though participating in either intervention may have contributed to higher uptake compared to a nonactive control group. Boys appeared to have generally more negative attitudes toward both language learning and advocacy than girls. Declared intentions to study or drop a language did not align with final decisions for one quarter of the pupils. Critically, perceptions of language lessons (French, German, or Spanish) and attitudes to languages were reliable predictors of uptake, though the strongest predictor was whether pupils considered languages to be important for themselves. Perceived wider importance of languages was not, in itself, a sufficient incentive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Comparison of L2–L2 and L2–Heritage Learner Interactions in Spanish Language Classrooms

Abstract: Conversational interaction studies have typically focused either on second language (L2) learners participating in native speaker-nonnative speaker (NS-NNS) dyads or in NNS-NNS dyads This study analyzes the task-based interactions of 26 naturally occurring learner dyads in an intermediate-level, university Spanish language classroom, 13 of which were matched L2 learner dyads and 13 of which were mixed L2 learner-heritage learner (HL) dyads Specifically, the study compared the two dyad types to determine whether they differed in their focus on form or in the amount of talk produced during interaction Results revealed that the two types of dyads were largely similar, although instances of focus on form were more likely to be resolved in a target-like way by mixed L2-HL pairs than by matched L2-L2 pairs, and there was significantly more target language talk in mixed pairs Interestingly, L2 learners used the target language significantly more with HL learners than they did with other L2 learners, suggesting that different conversational norms may be at play in the two pair types Furthermore, posttask questionnaire data indicated that L2 and HL learners alike saw the interaction as a greater opportunity for the L2 learner's development than for the HL learner's, calling into question whether classroom contexts like this one meet the needs of HL learners [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying a Research Agenda for Language Teaching Materials

Abstract: The article discusses the use of teaching materials, including textbooks, in the teaching of languages to foreign speakers. Topics discussed include the importance of curriculum, the relationship between teaching materials and classroom discourse, and the role of teaching materials in second language acquisition.

Second Language Learner Knowledge of Verb-Argument Constructions: Effects of Language Transfer and Typology.

Abstract: This article examines second language (L2) learner knowledge of English verb-argument constructions (VACs), for example, the 'V against n' construction. It investigates to what extent constructions underpin L2 learners' linguistic competence, how VAC mental representations in native speakers and learners differ, and whether there are observable effects of the learners' first language. Native speakers of English and advanced learners of 3 different first language backgrounds (Czech, German, Spanish) were asked to generate the first verb that came to mind to fill the gap in 20 sparse VAC frames like 'she ____ against the....' The comparison of learner and native speaker verb responses highlights crosslinguistic transfer effects as well as effects of language typology that impact verb semantics (cf. Talmy, 1985). Our findings suggest that learners whose L1 is, like English, satellite-framed (here Czech and German) produce more target-like verbs than learners whose L1 is verb-framed (here Spanish). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Ecological View of Whole-Class Discussions in a Second Language Literature Classroom: Teacher Reformulations as Affordances for Learning.

Abstract: This article analyzes whole-class discussions between a teacher and her students in a Latin American Colonial literature course at the college level. The study is theoretical-exploratory in nature in that it (a) articulates theoretical assumptions inherent in an ecological perspective on second language learning and teaching and (b) attempts to operationalize the affordance construct (van Lier, , ) in the context of a second language (L2) literature classroom. The study's findings underscore the importance of teacher reformulations in whole-class discussions as well as students' engagement with and awareness of the unfolding talk. Furthermore, how the teacher dynamically interacts with one student and his/her contribution potentially affects other students' understanding of the ongoing discussion which, in turn, can influence their comprehension of the literary texts under analysis. Teacher reformulations during whole-class discussions therefore can serve as affordances for learning. Theoretical implications of the affordance construct, in addition to implications for L2 language and literature teaching, are delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Hands Speak Louder Than Words: The Role of Gesture in the Communication, Encoding, and Recall of Words in a Novel Second Language

Abstract: In the interest of clarifying how gesture facilitates L2 word learning, the current study investigates gesture's influence on three interrelated cognitive processes subserving L2 word learning: communication, encoding, and recall. Individuals unfamiliar with Hungarian learned 20 Hungarian words that were either accompanied or unaccompanied by gestures depicting their referents, and taught the meanings of the words to interlocutors who were also unfamiliar with Hungarian. All participants were then tested for their recall of target words. The results show that gesture facilitates all three cognitive processes, supporting the predictions of McNeill's () growth point theory. Furthermore, the results indicate that gesture production facilitates all of the cognitive processes more effectively than gesture viewing. Overall, the results demonstrate that gesture can serve as an effective cognitive aid for L2 word learning by beginning L2 learners, particularly in task-focused, conversational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concatenative and Nonconcatenative Plural Formation in L1, L2, and Heritage Speakers of Arabic.

Abstract: This study compares Arabic L1, L2, and heritage speakers' (HS) knowledge of plural formation, which involves concatenative and nonconcatenative modes of derivation. Ninety participants (divided equally among L1, L2, and heritage speakers) completed two oral tasks: a picture naming task (to measure proficiency) and a plural formation task. The findings indicate that both L2 learners and heritage speakers have consistent problems with nonconcatenative plural morphology (particularly plurals with geminated and defective roots). However, the difficulties that heritage speakers displayed were mainly restricted to forms that are acquired late by L1 children, unlike L2 learners who displayed a sharp performance dichotomy between concatenative and nonconcatenative plurals. Furthermore, with regard to the default strategy, heritage speakers resorted to the language-specific default form, namely the sound feminine, whereas L2 learners opted for the sound masculine, which is likely a case of adhering to a universal tendency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Abroad and Changes in Degree of Foreign Accent in Children and Adults

Abstract: The present study examines the impact of learning context and age on learners' degree of foreign accent. Participants of two different age groups (children vs. adults) learning English in two different contexts (at home vs. study abroad) were interviewed and asked to narrate a story and to fill out a questionnaire about their language use while abroad. A group of listeners rated the degree of perceived foreign accent of the oral productions of each of the groups. It was found that learning context played a significant role, with participants in the study abroad setting having a significantly milder foreign accent in the posttest. Although age did not influence the results statistically, child participants abroad experienced the greatest improvement and also spent more time speaking with native speakers than adult participants abroad. These results shed light on the characteristics of the study abroad experience that are beneficial for learners and on learner characteristics that optimize such an experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fostering Self‐Regulated Learning Through the European Language Portfolio: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study

Abstract: The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is an alternative assessment used in foreign language classes throughout Europe to support and record language learning. Directly linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) proficiency guidelines, it is designed to achieve an ambitious dual goal: document students' skills and foster self-regulated learners. The question remains whether the ELP accomplishes its desired effect. To investigate it, the researcher employed an embedded mixed methods design in Saxony, Germany, comprising a total of 575 students in 28 classes with 19 teachers in 6 schools. In a preliminary two-group quasi-experimental phase, students using the ELP ( n = 318) reported higher mastery goal orientation, task value, academic self-efficacy, self-regulatory efficacy, and instructor evaluations. The ELP's effect increased with its frequency of use. Investigation into teachers' pedagogical beliefs revealed no statistical difference, strengthening the attribution of the results to ELP use. To reveal a more complete understanding of the ELP's effect, semi-structured interviews investigating student and teacher perception of the ELP were conducted with a purposefully selected subgroup of participants using the ELP. Interviews included open-ended prompts designed to illustrate the quantitative results. This study provides strong empirical evidence supporting the claim that the ELP accomplishes its pedagogical purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Effect of Radical-Based Grouping in Character Learning in Chinese as a Foreign Language

Abstract: The logographic nature of the Chinese writing system creates a huge hurdle for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners. Existing literature (e.g., Shen, ; Taft & Chung, ) suggests that radical knowledge facilitates character learning. In this project, we selected 48 compound characters in eight radical groups and examined how grouping characters based on their radicals affected the form, sound, and meaning representations of characters and radical knowledge development. We found that for beginning learners, learning radical-sharing characters in groups consistently led to better recall and better radical generalization than learning in distribution. For intermediate level learners, the grouping factor did not lead to significant differences, while participants in both conditions made improvement in radical perception and radical semantic awareness generalization. We concluded that there is a benefit to presenting learners with recurring radicals in compound characters in groups in character learning and in the autonomous generalization of radical knowledge. We also noted the differences between beginning and intermediate learners in their character perception and learning, and put forward implications for CFL pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactional Competence and the Development of Alignment Activity

Abstract: Based on qualitative analysis of conversational interactions collected over the course of a Spanish language learner's academic year abroad, this article explores the development of interactional resources related to alignment activity in the learner's conversational participation. Alignment activity refers to the means interlocutors use to demonstrate their intersubjectivity. Alignment moves such as assessments, collaborative contributions, and collaborative completions index shared understanding, the ability to adopt the other's point of view, and the ability to speak in the other's voice. Analysis of the learner's alignment activity over the course of the year abroad reveals changes in participation that allowed the learner to play a more active role in the co-construction of communication as her time abroad progressed. The findings in this study contribute to the operationalization of the concept of interactional competence (IC) and to our understanding of its development over time. This study proposes the inclusion of alignment activity as another important grouping of interactional resources relevant to models of IC (He & Young, ; Young, , ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of Interactional Competence in Japanese as a Second Language: Use of Incomplete Sentences as Interactional Resources

Abstract: This study investigates the development of interactional competence by second language (L2) learners of Japanese studying abroad as indexed by their use of incomplete sentences, a common linguistic phenomenon in Japanese conversations. Eighteen international students of mixed L1 backgrounds participated in the study at a Japanese university. They conversed with a peer for 20 minutes in Japanese, while the researcher participated in the conversation occasionally. Analysis of the two conversations, recorded 12 weeks apart at the beginning and end of the semester, showed a notable increase in the learners' production of incomplete utterances, although change in participant structure (dyadic between learner peers vs. triadic among learner peers and the researcher) showed no effect in the learners' use of incomplete sentences. Close analysis of the use of the incomplete sentences in sequential organization revealed the learners' development in interactional competence: Over time they became able to use the linguistic resource of incomplete utterance endings to co-construct meaning in talk-in-progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning and Retaining Specialized Vocabulary From Textbook Reading: Comparison of Learning Outcomes Through L1 and L2

Abstract: This study investigated the acquisition of specialized vocabulary from L1 and L2 textbook reading by 64 Slovak high school students who were intermediate or advanced users of English. The students were divided into two groups: One group read the academic texts in their L1, the other group in their L2. In a posttest and a delayed posttest, they were asked to orally recall the meanings of 12 technical words that appeared in the texts. The word meanings recalled by the students immediately after reading and 1 week later were examined in terms of their breadth and depth. Results showed that although the L2-instructed students acquired the meanings of the specialized vocabulary items to a considerable degree, they still differed significantly from their L1-instructed counterparts in several respects: They could recall fewer word meanings after the reading; they acquired the words to a lesser depth; and after a week, their knowledge of the words faded more rapidly than that of the L1-instructed participants. The significance of the findings for L2 vocabulary acquisition and bilingual education is discussed.

The Role of Morphological and Contextual Information in L2 Lexical Inference

Abstract: This study investigated the role of morphological and contextual information in inferring the meaning of unknown L2 words during reading. Four groups of college-level ESL students, beginning ( n = 34), intermediate ( n = 27), high-intermediate ( n = 21), and advanced ( n = 25), chose the inferred meanings of 20 pseudo compounds (e.g., rainfime) from multiple choice options. The pseudo compounds were presented in a set of sentences. In the Morphology Reliable condition, the known word part in the pseudo compounds provided semantic information about the meaning of the compounds, which also matched the context of the sentences. In the Morphology Unreliable condition, the known word part did not provide any reliable semantic information nor did it match the context. The critical answer options were the meanings based on morphological information and the meanings based on contextual information. Results indicated significant differences in the choice of answers between the groups only in the Morphology Unreliable condition: The beginning-level learners relied more on morphological information even though the meanings based on morphology were incorrect. The study discusses the underlying processes in the choice of information used in lexical inference during reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracing an L2 Learner’s Motion Constructions over Time: A Usage-based Classroom Investigation

Abstract: Informed by cognitive linguistics, this article discusses the learning of second language motion constructions from the perspective of usage-based linguistics (UBL). It considers how specific motion constructions and their underlying semantic components are expressed and developed over time. The developmental analyses are based on the assumptions of the UBL path of language learning, in which constructions evolve from concrete items to gradually abstract constructions (e.g., Ellis, 2002; Eskildsen & Cadierno, 2007; Tomasello, 2000). The motion constructions and their components are analyzed on the basis of Talmy's (2000) typological framework. The article draws on a longitudinal audio–video database of classroom interaction. Tracing the development of motion constructions in one learner in the corpus over three and a half years, we show that the inventory of motion constructions becomes increasingly productive with emergent patterns building on previous experience.