Volume 49, Issue 2

This paper reports on a study that investigates the impact of learning context on the L2 acquisition of English by German-speaking pupils. Learning context is operationalized in terms of the relative prominence of the L1 and the L2 within the learning context, which in turn reflects the functional roles and domains of use allocated to the L2 and L1. L2 learning outcomes are compared across four different authentic language-learning contexts which represent four distinct positions on the second language (SL) – foreign language (FL) context continuum. The results show that the learners in the learning context most close to the SL end of the continuum (with high L2 prominence and very low L1 prominence in the wider extra-curricular context) outperform the learners in the three other contexts on most aspects of L2 proficiency investigated. Comparisons between the learners in the three other contexts yield less straightforward observations, including better than anticipated results for the learners in the prototypical FL context.

This study explores the long-term effects of starting age and the effects of input in an instructed language learning setting. First, with respect to the effects of starting age, the findings suggest that in the long term and after similar amounts of input, starting age is not a predictor of language outcomes. Second, the study examines the effects of input using multiple measures derived from responses to an extended questionnaire. The analysis reveals modest but significant effects of input on participants' proficiency, confirming that input never ceases to play a role in an instructed language learning setting, in contrast with opposite claims from studies of naturalistic language learning.

The goal of this paper is to discuss language experience in second language (L2) phonological learning, with a particular focus on lexical frequency, attention to form, and ethnic identity as factors that influence the role of language experience. First, several difficulties associated with the study of language experience are discussed. Then, evidence is presented that lexical frequency, attention to form, and ethnic identity interact with measures of language experience, thereby shaping positive and negative effects of experience on L2 phonological learning. Next, it is argued that language experience and L2 learning outcomes are linked through bi-directional, reciprocal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of several avenues of future research for the study of language experience in L2 phonological learning.

This article aims at describing and explaining the effects of a period of Study Abroad spent in the target language country (SA) on foreign language development. Such effects are analysed in the short- and mid-term and in contrast with the impact of a period of formal instruction (FI) previously spent in the home country (AH). It is hypothesised that because each of the two contexts has differential patterns of input exposure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, their effect on the participants' communicative and motivational development will also be different. The learners' abilities to avail themselves of opportunities for contactwith the target language that the SA context provides are also taken into account. For this purpose, a sample of Catalan/Spanish EFL undergraduates who spent a compulsory three-month sojourn in an English-speaking university was analysed longitudinally over a period of three years. Intensive testing of the learners' oral and written abilities was carried out, and both global and fine-grained measurements were applied to the data. Comparisons were also drawn between the sample of non-native English speaking learners (NNSs) and baseline data from a similar sample of native English-speaking (NSs) exchange students.