A study investigated whether English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students' understanding of culturally-loaded words (those that are similar in primary meaning but different in connotation between the two languages) approximates that of native speakers of English, and how much English proficiency level may account for the extent of this…

An examination was made into cohesion in expository essays written in Malay and in English as a Second Language (ESL) by Malaysian writers. T-tests performed on the data obtained from a cohesion analysis of text indicated no differences in the amount of cohesion between good and weak compositions written in Malay by native speakers (n=20), or in…

A study examined English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and native English speaking (L1) students' recall of propositional knowledge, story structure elements, inferential comprehension, and the types and frequencies of oral reading miscues. Reading tasks were administered to 30 students (aged 9 to 13) from each of the three linguistic groups…

Research suggests that interaction between native speakers (NSs) and second language learners (non-native speakers) (NNSs) is characteristically different from speech between NSs, and that it is the modified nature of NS-NNS interaction which provides learners with optimal input. A study was undertaken to determine whether input and interactional…

A study of the structure of the speech act known as an apology looked at the differences in linguistic strategies used by advanced nonnative English language learners and native speakers in apology behavior, and whether the differences result from the severity of the offense or the familiarity of the interlocutors. An apology is seen as consisting…

The interview techniques developed by Carol Chomsky were used in a comparative study of the language acquisition of 32 bilingual and monolingual third grade students. After these students were matched for age, socioeconomic status, IQ, family environment (both parents in the home), and reading ability, they were placed in four…

Graduate students do need and can benefit from instruction in the basis of composition, but the definition of what each student basically needs will vary so greatly that individual instruction is the only meaningful way to meet those needs. The demand for such instruction spurred the development of a graduate course at North Texas State University…

Bilingual education means that equal emphasis is given to the development of the child's first language and to the learning of English as a second language. The teacher should know exactly where his students are in the development of their first language when they begin to study the second language. This requires a knowledge of the language…

Among Mexican-Americans today, not only native speakers of Spanish but also many native speakers of English speak the language with a notable influence from Spanish phonology. This paper reviews a series of studies concerning reactions of Anglos and Mexican-Americans toward accented English. The unifying goal of these investigations has been the…

This paper addresses the effect of error correction on second language learning by focusing on feedback and it's effect on language acquisition. The paper deals specifically with the written form of the target language and looks at how the second language teacher can address errors that interfere with written communication in such a way that the…

A study analyzed patterns in one speech act, that of refusal, in 60 native English speakers (responding in English only) and 120 native Spanish speakers (60 responding in English and 60 in Spanish). Native English speakers were college students in the United States and Spanish speakers were students in Spain. A questionnaire was used to elicit…

Some of the uses of laughter in conversation are examined, specifically as laughter occurs in a second language setting. Although the concepts of humor and laughter are often intertwined, not all laughter is humorous, nor does every humorous event evoke laughter. Furthermore, cross-cultural difference can contribute to misinterpretation of…

The relationship between oral language and academic success as a rationale for the study of narrative structures is discussed in order to determine Northern Ute children's acquisition of "school language" structures. In addition, this paper compares hypotheses concerning the expected linguistic behavior of Northern Ute children in…

An approach to teaching second language learners the pragmatic aspects of communicative competence is discussed. The approach uses analysis of verbal interaction to explain four areas of skill and knowledge related to communicative competence: grammatical competence; sociolinguistic competence; discourse competence; and strategic competence. It…

This study examined the ways in which teachers of English as a second language (ESL) perceive the semantic and syntactic constraints that govern word use and the strategies they use to explain lexical anomalies to students. Twelve native speaking ESL teachers from 2 university-level intensive English programs were asked to identify, categorize,…