Middle Eastern students represent the fastest-growing international student population in the United States, with the majority coming from Saudi Arabia. While some studies have examined the academic challenges faced by international students, few have examined the academic writing difficulties encountered by Saudi international graduate students.…

This study investigates grammar learning strategies and the acquisition of L2 tense-aspect morphology through the retrospective think-aloud processes of a group of L3 learners of Catalan. A total of 18 students of Catalan in a university setting in Catalonia were asked to select one of three tense-aspect forms (preterite, imperfect, and perfect)…

This paper documents a cross-sectional look at L1 transfer and L2 contact for learners of English in a UK study abroad (SA) context. The study employed an instructional experimental design over a 6- month period with 34 Chinese students assigned to either an explicitly instructed group or a control group receiving no instruction. Instruction took…

Popular opinion has long assumed that learning a foreign language requires not only traditional classroom instruction but also immersion among native speakers of the language. This opinion is so strongly held that students who study through immersion are believed to become more proficient than those who do not. "Study Abroad Contexts for…

This article presents the quantitative and qualitative results of a nationwide survey of the perceptions of faculty, alumni, and students regarding the contribution to the undergraduate Spanish major curriculum of various types of courses and experiences. Quantitative results indicated that all participants valued the importance of study abroad as…

Research on the effectiveness of short-term study-abroad (SA) programs for improving oral skills has shown mixed results. In this study, 24 L2 German learners (L1 English) provided pre- and post-SA speech samples addressing a hypothetical situation and completed surveys on cross-cultural interest and adaptability; L2 communication affect,…

This article presents the results of a study examining the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (CF) on the simple past tense and the impact beliefs may have on students' uptake of the feedback they receive. A seven-week study was carried out with 42 advanced EFL learners in Vientiane, Laos. Students' beliefs about written CF were first…

This cross-sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study-abroad experience in production of speech acts among learners of L2 English. Participants were 25 native speakers of English and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proficiency and no study-abroad experience.…

Students' assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by higher education institutions, as evidenced in the UK's National Student Survey, introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a university. This study…

The Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) held its annual conference March 10-12, 2011, at the Crowne Plaza in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in collaboration with the Louisiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (LFLTA) and the Southeastern Association of Language Learning Technology (SEALLT). Those individuals whose proposals were…

This collection of papers includes the following: "Learner Characteristics of Early Starters and Late Starters of English Language Learning: Anxiety, Aptitude, and Motivation" (Tomoko Takada); "Uncovering First Year Students' Language Learning Experiences, Their Attitudes, and Motivations in a Context of Change at the Tertiary Level…

These reports deal with language as a whole: its nature, its history, its relationship to culture, its acquisition, the immediate uses to which it can be put, and the development in students of an appreciation for the ability to use a foreign language. The book is divided into three main sections: Acquisition, Application, and Appreciation. For…