Learners' grammaticality reactions emerge through cognitive processes and relate to the nature of the linguistic stimulus. Discussion of such metalinguistic judgments, particularly learners' tolerance of ill-formedness, attempts to clarify established perspectives, arguing that specific aspects of test strings may influence the saliency of certain…

Studies of the impact of formal instruction consistently show that more instruction results in modest increases in consciously-learned competence, a conclusion that is consistent with the claims of the monitor hypothesis. Reviews research in which the impact of direct instruction in grammar is measured directly, discusses individual studies…

Discusses a conceptual framework outlining what is known about language development and metalinguistics, and considers ways in which this may provide a reference framework to guide the work of the various committees responsible for developing the language curriculum. The example of the curriculum in Ireland is used to explore the practical…

Reports on research that was undertaken as part of a Bachelor of Teaching Honours degree program where researchers looked at a Japanese program in a Tasmanian government primary school. Describes the strategies that were used to develop learners' metalinguistic awareness. (Author/VWL)

Investigates one aspect of language use in focus on form--metalanguage. Reports on a study to identify how metalanguage was used and the relationship between the use of metalanguage and the occurrence of students uptake moves in focus on form. (Author/VWL)

A number of theories of second language L2 acquisition acknowledge a role for explicit L2 knowledge. However, the testing of these theories remains problematic because of the lack of a widely accepted means for measuring L2 explicit knowledge. This article seeks to address this lacuna by examining L2 explicit knowledge from two perspectives.…

This article explores some roles for conversation analysis (CA) as an approach to second and foreign language learning by examining the initial segment of a Gesprachsrunde, a dyadic conversation-for-learning conducted between a beginning learner of German as a foreign language and a native speaker of German. The analysis focuses on the situated…

This paper examines the out-of-class English language learning activities of student teachers in Hong Kong, using questionnaires, interviews and learner diaries. The study found that while many of the students devoted considerable time to studying and practising English outside the classroom, much of this time was spent on more receptive…

In Claire Kramsch's (2004) response to work by Mary Louise Pratt (2002) on multilingualism, identity and language in the U.S., she proposed that the four points made by Pratt be extended to the following: (1) Monolingualism is a handicap, but so is the assumption that one language = one culture = adherence to one cultural community; (2) Heritage…

The socio-contextual model of second language (L2) learning proposes that L2 learning is influenced by aspects of contact with the L2 community, L2 confidence, and identification to both the first language and L2 community ( Clement, 1980; Noels & Clement, 1996). The present study examines how these aspects are linked to individuals' cultural…

This study is a modest attempt to use three Korean primary school children and their English diaries as go-betweens to mediate in an apparent dispute between the founding fathers of socio-cultural theory about the nature of language and language awareness. According to Bruner, Vygotsky holds that mediation by others and self-mediation of written…

Teaching pragmatic competence in Korean-as-a-foreign language (KFL) settings is still an underdeveloped area, when compared to teaching other language areas, such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The first step to enhance pragmatic language teaching in foreign language (FL) education is to raise the FL instructors' and students'…

This paper attempts to define meta-rhetoric. Meta-rhetoric is a collection of micro-rhetoric taken together to suggest a larger image in the mind's eye of the reader. An analogy is suggested between a large graphic image comprised of numerous individual mini-images. It is asserted that, in an analogous manner, readers of a text organized around a…

Examined the role of phonological memory and phonological awareness in foreign language word learning. Measures of phonological memory and phonological awareness were administered to 58 Chinese-speaking 4-year-olds four times over 2 years. Results suggest phonological memory may support foreign language word learning but phonological awareness may…

This study on code-mixing focuses on the influence of Spanish in Nahuatl discourse as revealed in narratives produced by adults and children. Results indicate differences in frequency of content word embedded language (Spanish), lexical items across grade level (for children), grade level attained (for adults), and correlations (for children)…