The current study examined the relationship between overall second language (L2) proficiency and utterance fluency measures for several L2s in order to determine whether utterance measures can be used to predict L2 proficiency. The study measured the speech rate, number of hesitations, number and length of pauses, number and length of runs, and…

This study examined whether cadets at a U.S. service academy perceived attitudinal differences toward their military and civilian L2 instructors along three variables: foreign language expertise, communicative anxiety, and relatability. Cadets' proficiency levels (divided by beginning and intermediate classes) and current instructor (civilian or…

Although the number of multilingual qualitative research studies appears to be growing, investigations concerned with methodological issues arising from the use of several languages within a single research are still very scarce. Most of these seem to deal exclusively with issues related to the use of interpreters and translators in qualitative…

Although all bilinguals encounter cross-language interference (CLI), some bilinguals are more susceptible to interference than others. Here, we report on language performance of late bilinguals (Russian/German) on two bilingual tasks (interview, verbal fluency), their language use and switching habits. The only between-group difference was CLI:…

Many colleges and universities in North America employ foreign language housing (FLH) as a means of exposing students to a second language (L2). However, little research examines the effectiveness of these houses on L2 use and gains. The purpose of this study was to examine whether L2 learners living in FLH use the L2 more and whether they make…

This paper is concerned with the impact that public and political discourses on the issues of language and ethnicity in Germany have on integration. It suggests that a combined effect of factors such as the traditional concept of "Germanness", peculiarities of Russian Germans' "cultural identity" and certain aspects of German…

Considers the interrater reliability of certified testers in five European languages, the relationship between interviewer-assigned ratings and second ratings based on audio replay, interrater reliability as a function of proficiency level, effect of different languages on interrater agreement, and interrater disagreements with regard to…

This study investigated over a 3-year period the learning strategies high school students reported using for learning a second language. The learning strategies used across languages and modalities are described. The report is organized by instrument--questionnaires, small group interviews, individual think-aloud interviews--and presents the data…

The development of an indirect oral proficiency test for foreign languages by the Defense Language Institute is described. The technique uses taped questions to elicit answers, also taped, that are evaluated according to the Foreign Service Institute's oral proficiency rating scale of 0 to 5. Tape recordings are used because of the large numbers…