A study investigated late emergence, in learners of English as a Second Language, of the ability to interpret object gaps in purpose clauses (PCs). Subjects were 34 adult native speakers of French. Results indicate difficulty interpreting only PCs with prepositional object gaps, supporting the hypothesis that syntactically marked construction may…

Examines proposals for task-based approaches to instruction, reviews relevant research, investigates developments in cognitive psychology, proposes a framework for the implementation of task-based instruction drawing upon relevant theory, and organizes the methods to implement such instruction so as to minimize problems and maximize goal…

In order to teach anything, two fundamental questions must be asked and answered continually: What should be taught, and how should it be taught? The answer to the second question is highly dependent on the answer to the first, but the present answer to the first question is inadequate and inappropriate to today's communication tools. Language…

In linguistic analysis of the speech act, the data used to support theoretical conclusions are too often comprised of semantically isolated utterances of the ideal speaker-hearer. In reality, one of the most revealing kinds of data is imperfect data, where the functioning language processes are often unmasked. The study of first language…

An innovative instructional program designed to improve children's skills in referential communication, especially in communicating descriptions and instructions, is evaluated. Insights gained into classroom organization and the teacher's level of adoption of the innovation are discussed. (MSE)

Examines whether strategy training orienting second language (L2) students' attention toward referential processes improves their comprehension of Japanese narrative. Findings revealed that experimental students comprehended the story at the macro level significantly better than control students, suggesting that the strategy training is beneficial…

The traditional approach to grammar teaching provides learners with opportunities to produce specific grammatical structures. This article explores an alternative approach, one based on interpreting input. The rationale for the approach is discussed, as are the principles for designing interpretation tasks for grammar teaching. (Contains 35…

Numerous findings suggest that non-native speech perception undergoes dramatic changes before the infant' s first birthday. Yet the nature and cause of these changes remain uncertain. We evaluated the predictions of several theoretical accounts of developmental change in infants' perception of non-native consonant contrasts. Experiment 1 assessed…

In the first part of this study, we measured the alignment (relative to segmental landmarks) of the low F0 turning points between the accentual fall and the final boundary rise in short Dutch falling-rising questions of the form "Do you live in [place name]?" produced as read speech in a laboratory setting. We found that the alignment of…

Reduced verbal working memory capacity has been proposed as a possible account of language impairments in specific language impairment (SLI). Studies have shown, however, that differences in strength of linguistic representations in the form of word frequency affect list recall and performance on verbal working memory tasks. This suggests that…

It is proposed that a major obstacle for intermediate-level learners of English as a Second Language is the transition from thinking in the native language to thinking in English, that this transition must be made before proceeding from the intermediate level, and that it should begin as early as possible in language training. Early in-class…

Theories of human cognition and language suggest that there is a gap between the phases of perception and the phases of production of language. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten in language teaching, so that beginners' courses too frequently contain simplified and non-authentic linguistic input to assure that output does not lag too far…

A discussion of the use of songs to teach French as a second language focuses on the value of songs in teaching aspects of pronunciation. An introductory section describes the benefits of songs as instructional material, particularly to impart cultural information about Quebec to Canadian anglophones. Three sections outline justifications for the…

Computer networking has made many new activities available to language learners. While these innovations are practical, they are also grounded in theory and justifiable on sound principles of language learning. Computers make possible classroom activities maximizing the benefit drawn from complex and otherwise unmanageable communicative…

A framework for describing relationships among the different linguistic systems in a bilingual or second language learner is proposed. The framework attempts to represent the ways in which knowledge of one language is used in integrating into memory new knowledge about another language. The model is partially implemented in a computer program that…