Informed by Conversation Analysis, this paper examines discursive practices through which nonnative speaker (NNS) identity is constituted in relation to native speaker (NS) identity in naturally occurring English conversations. Drawing on studies of social interaction that view identity as intrinsically a social, dialogic, negotiable entity, I…

Corpus-based research has shown that the frequency of use of particular grammatical structures and lexis in English is not always congruent with the content or ordering of explicit rules in pedagogical materials. The present study provides an additional example from French, focusing on word-order rules related to adjective position and the…

The analysis of spoken language requires a principled way of dividing transcribed data into units in order to assess features such as accuracy and complexity. This article discusses a reliable and comprehensibly defined unit to assist with the analysis of a variety of recordings of native and nonnative speakers of English. (Author/VWL)

This paper examines an under-studied component of deep vocabulary knowledge, affective meaning, which is used to convey attitudes. Two affective dimensions, evaluation and potency, are examined to determine whether they influence the vocabulary choices of native speakers of American-English in describing interpersonal interactions. In Experiment…

Examines the production of yes/no questions by native speakers of English and speakers of Singapore English, a non-native regional variety. The findings suggest that what constitutes target-like use remains ill-defined as long as native speaker behavior is assumed, or intuited, rather than documented. (40 references) (GLR)

Determines whether content knowledge influences conversational participation when native speakers (NS) interact with nonnative speakers (NNS), and investigates whether native speakers tend to participate more actively than nonnative speakers in these interactions. Conversations from 45 NS-NNS pairs are analyzed and discussed. (46 references) (GLR)

Examines a form of other-initiated conversational repair that is delayed within next turn position, a form that is produced by non-native speakers of English whose native language is Mandarin. Using the framework of conversational analysis, shows that in native/non-native conversation, other-initiated repair is not always done as early as possible…

Reports an experiment in which two groups of English-as-a-Second-Language participants--native Mandarin listeners and a mixed group of speakers of other languages--used a 9-point scale ranging from "too slow" to "too fast" to assess the appropriateness of the speech rate of narratives read by native English speakers and…

A key issue in the field of second language acquisition has been the difficulty of specifying accurate measures of implicit language knowledge. This paper describes the development of an elicited imitation test. Its design differs from that of most other elicited imitation tests in that it (a) requires test takers to focus attention first on the…

This study examines and compares the production of discourse markers by native speakers and learners of English based on a pedagogic sub-corpus from CANCODE, a corpus of spoken British English, and a corpus of interactive classroom discourse of secondary pupils in Hong Kong. The results indicate that in both groups discourse markers serve as…

Investigation of preschoolers' (20 native and 20 non-native English speakers) understanding of English speakers' gestures found that the subjects understood about half of all the gestures, with non-native subjects understanding less than native subjects. Level of comprehension was affected by age as well as by cultural familiarity. (Author/CB)

Using conversation analysis as a central tool of analysis, examines the sequential development of talk-in-interaction observed in a small group activity in a Japanese language classroom. Explores the relationship among task instruction, students' reaction to the instruction during their pre-task planning, and the actual development of talk with…

Attempts to overcome methodological problems in studies of vocabulary size. Problems occur when trying to answer the following three questions: (1) how do we decide what to count as words; (2) how do we choose what words to test; and (3) how do we test the chosen words? (31 references) (Author/VWL)

Investigates the systematic modification to discourse completion test (DCT) situational prompts used to elicit requests on the responses of native and non-native speakers of English. Modification included enhancing the situational prompts by adding information on a number of social and contextual variables considered relevant to the study.…

Discusses the recent shift in the use of English by nonnative speakers using English for international communication, resulting in nonnative speakers of the language outnumbering native speakers. Argues that this shift has serious implications for English language teaching pedagogy, principally with regard to phonology and pronunciation.…