Volume 62, Issue 4

British higher education institutions attract a large number of international students, especially Chinese students, to pursue degrees in the UK every year. This longitudinal mixed-methods study tracked the informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation program students in the UK for two terms. A Language Contact Questionnaire and a Study Abroad Social Network Survey were administered to 84 students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 participants in the first term and the second term of study. Data revealed that the participants generally had a high percentage of L1 use, high academic L2 contact, and mainly L1 social networks during studying abroad, with little variation over the two terms. Their relationships with international friends were superficial and a vibrant international student community was not found. L2 topic multiplexity and online L2 contact frequency weakly predicted the total informal L2 contact at Term 1 and Term 2. This study underscores that degree-oriented SA participants may have different prioritization and leisure time routines compared with summer school participants or exchange students abroad. Thus, with an extra foundation year in the host country, the current sample seemed to prioritize academic preparation, rather than social integration.

This study aimed to compare the comprehension of second language (L2) English articles by native speakers of Korean, an article-less language, and by Korean learners of English as an L2 and Spanish as a third language (L3). The participants were 22 adult learners with advanced overall proficiency in L2 English and L3 Spanish. They completed two tasks, an online self-paced reading task and an offline acceptability rating task. The findings showed that both the trilingual and the bilingual groups relied on definiteness in distinguishing English articles as native speakers do. The findings related to the trilingual group were predicted by the morphological congruency hypothesis, but those related to the bilingual group were against the predictions of the fluctuation hypothesis. A comparison between the two non-native groups showed that the trilingual group had a higher sensitivity to distinguish English articles than the bilingual group, which provides evidence for positive backward transfer from the L3 to the L2 in article comprehension by learners of English whose L1 is article-less, such as Korean.

Despite the well acknowledged importance of motivation in second language (L2) learning, longitudinal research regarding the effects of motivation on growth in L2 proficiency remains limited. Furthermore, limited investigation has been done on how motivation and L2 proficiency interactively develop and affect each other. Thus, this study examined the impact of motivation on growth in kanji proficiency and the dual developmental trajectories of motivation and kanji proficiency using the self-determination theory. Learners of Japanese with Chinese as their First language (L1) responded to a questionnaire and took kanji tests three times in one academic semester ( n  = 192). The results of the univariate latent growth curve (LGC) modeling identified intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation as positive and negative predictors, respectively, of kanji proficiency growth, suggesting the importance of enjoyment and the detrimental nature of introjected regulation in kanji learning by L1 Chinese learners. The results of multivariate LGC modeling demonstrated a lack of reciprocal developmental association between kanji proficiency and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, perceived competence rather than actual growth in kanji proficiency influenced the enhancement of intrinsic motivation, indicating the importance of subjective interpretations of L2 development in promoting motivation.

A key concern in L2 research and pedagogy is how learner attention can be directed to linguistic forms. Research has shown that textual enhancement (TE) facilitates the noticing of targeted L2 features, leading to cognitive processes beneficial for L2 learning. However, very few studies on TE have had children as participants. This longitudinal study investigated the extent to which TE in model texts could have an effect on the development of third person possessive pronouns ( his / her ) among young EFL learners. The participants, 30 dyads of 11- to 12-year-old Spanish children from three EFL classes, were randomly assigned to a control group (CG), a treatment group (TG) and a long-term treatment group (LTG). The groups were engaged in two four-stage collaborative writing cycles of 3 weeks each separated by four months. The CG, which self-corrected their own texts, was not exposed to TE, the TG was only exposed to it during the two cycles and the LTG benefitted from this technique during the two writing cycles and the period in-between. The findings revealed statistically significant differences between the LTG and the other two groups after a sustained exposure to TE, which seems to be a useful pedagogical tool to facilitate the children’s noticing of third person possessives.

The study examined the underlying structures, psychometric properties, and predictive validity of the following domain-general and domain-specific grit scales: The (L2) Grit Scales and the Long-term (L2) Grit Scales. Seven hundred German-as-a-FL learners from six secondary schools in China filled in the four grit scales and a scale measuring self-perceived German proficiency. Two hundred and eighty-nine out of them participated in a subsequent German exam and their German teachers rated their German proficiency. The main results are as follows: (1) both domain-general grit and L2 grit represented a unitary first-order construct with two correlated but distinct factors, namely, consistency of interest and perseverance of efforts; (2) only the Grit Scale and the L2 Grit Scale showed sound psychometric properties; (3) both domain-general grit and L2 grit were positively correlated with L2 achievement; (4) domain-general grit completely lost its predictive power on L2 achievement when combined with L2 grit in the same regression models. Our findings resonate with prior calls for prioritizing L2-specific grit research over domain-general grit research in L2 contexts.

Although motivational variables have been extensively examined in the context of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL), they have received little attention when learning Chinese as a second language (CSL), especially among elementary school students in lower grades. Considering the significant impact of psychological variables on language learning and the dilemma of Chinese reading for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students from Hong Kong, this study examined the structural relationship between the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation, as well as their impacts on the learning engagement and reading performance of 475 Hong Kong first-grade NCS students. Two findings were noteworthy: (1) under the simultaneous consideration of the above-mentioned variables, intrinsic motivation affects learning engagement and Chinese reading performance more than the ideal self; (2) the indirect effects of intrinsic motivation on reading performance through learning engagement are more significant than its direct effect on reading performance. The implications of the findings are discussed.

This study investigated the effectiveness of L2 instruction on the learning of English caused-motion constructions (e.g., Jane put the balls into the box, Harry swam Peter to the beach ). Korean EFL high school students ( N  = 156) were randomly assigned to three instructional conditions and one control group. While the metalanguage group relied on explicit uses of grammar jargon, the input flood group read narrative stories in which the instances of a prototypical verb were presented with higher frequency than other verbs. The image-schema group, which adopted a balanced approach to form and meaning attention, studied the core meaning of the target construction. Mixed-effects logistic regressions on Korean-to-English translation tests revealed that the image-schema group was most effective in terms of learnability and generalizability. The benefits of image-schema-based instruction were attributed to simultaneous attention to form and meaning, which might lead to deeper processing. Image-schema-based-instruction is discussed as a viable alternative for L2 construction learning.

This study employed a mixed-method approach to investigate L2 WTC as a dynamic variable in synchronous group discussion tasks. Data were collected from a group of Farsi-speaking ESL students in six online discussion tasks. The participants rated their WTC level every 5 min during the discussions and then provided explanations for changes in WTC in follow-up written stimulated recall procedures. The results indicate that participants’ WTC levels fluctuate significantly during the online discussion tasks, lending support to viewing online WTC as a fluid dynamic variable. The results also show that WTC changes are triggered by complex interactions between a range of internal and external forces. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

A large body of research has investigated the factors which underlie willingness to communicate (WTC). However, scant scholarly attention has been paid to WTC vis-à-vis learner talk, i.e., how intentions to talk translates into talk. Drawing on Dörnyei’s retrodictive qualitative modelling template, this research comprises a qualitative multiple-case study of three South Korean students who were learning English in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context. Specifically, the study examined what factors facilitated or hindered their WTC-talk realisation. Methodological triangulation was achieved by means of classroom observations, audio-stimulated recall interviews and semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed five individual factors and four contextual factors which formed various interactional patterns and interdependently influenced the three students’ WTC-talk realisation. Such interactional patterns showcase how individual and contextual factors interact and contribute to WTC and individual differences in communication frequency in the EAP classroom. The study provides novel empirical evidence for the influence of the Korean Confucian-based culture of learning and communication on students’ L2 practice. Informed by the complex dynamic systems theory, the study concludes with pedagogical implications that aim to inspire EAP practitioners to cultivate WTC-friendly classes that optimise the realisation of learner talk.

This study explores the ways that L2 learners develop their knowledge in understanding the pragmatic functions of a Chinese discourse marker (DM), zenme shuo ne (‘how to say’), and examines three interrelated aspects in pragmatic knowledge of this DM. Using metapragmatic interviews, emic data are collected from sixteen L2 Chinese learners and nineteen L1 Chinese speakers. The data are analysed using both qualitative methods and computational models. The findings reveal that L2 learners identify a different range of DM functions from L1 speakers. They attribute their function identification to concerns about self-face and speaker-centred interpersonal relationships, in contrast to L1 speakers, who refer to moral norms and indirect interpersonal relationships between the hearer and a third party. The different interpretations that L1 and L2 participants develop for the DM have given rise to different expectations of conversational directions. L2 learners are consistently more optimistic about upcoming conversations than L1 speakers.

Research by this author found abdominal enhancement techniques can address difficulties in Mandarin and Cantonese speakers’ English pronunciation by helping them: (1) maintain long vowel/diphthong sounds for their required duration; and (2) adequately voice fricative consonants. This current study aimed to further understand the impact of these techniques, chiefly on learners from other L1s who also characteristically find these areas of pronunciation problematic. Consequently, I charted the progress of a Spanish speaker and a Japanese speaker as they were taught the techniques in an English pronunciation course. A cohort of Mandarin speakers from the same course was additionally examined. This was partly for comparability purposes with the Spanish and Japanese speakers, but also because some new areas of learner response to the techniques were examined in the study that had not previously been examined for Mandarin speakers. Following the instruction, I was also able to examine the Spanish and Mandarin speakers one year later to check for further progress. The study found the learners from the three L1s responded to the techniques in different ways, and often for apparently different reasons. Consequently, tentative theoretical claims regarding the techniques’ impact on such learners were developed, along with preliminary instructional guidelines.

While discourse competence (DC) has been identified as the core competence in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and communication, only a few empirical studies have focused on DC in speaking assessments. This study investigates the discourse features (i.e., cohesion and coherence) of Taiwanese candidates’ performances in an argumentative exposition task in the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) by analyzing the construction of cohesion and coherence across four band scores (i.e., Bands 2, 3, 4, and 5). Cohesion analysis showed that all the three types of cohesion devices (i.e., grammatical, logical, and lexical) develop linearly with increasing band score levels. The higher-score test-takers (Bands 4 and 5) adopted grammatically and semantically more appropriate references to establish an accurate relation with the referents. They also tended to use a higher frequency of overall conjunctions (particularly additive) and repetition to promote logical and lexical cohesion. Coherence analysis found that high-score candidates were more equipped to produce a response that complies with the expected generic structure of argumentative tasks. While more complex theme-rheme patterns appeared more frequently in the discourse of higher-score candidates, theme reiteration patterns were only observed in Band 2. These results illustrate how Taiwanese EFL learners demonstrate DC with cohesive and coherence strategies in speaking test performance across band scores. Pedagogical implications for language teaching and learning are then discussed.

This study explores the challenges and benefits primary education EFL trainees ( N  = 28) reported when designing and videoing a storytelling session originally intended to be conducted offline with young learners. This change of scenario was caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The data for the study were derived from the trainees’ written reflections, focus group interviews, videos of instructional sessions and student-authored multimodal videos, which were explored to interpret trainees’ creative processes while engaged in multimodal composing. The results indicate that trainees hold videoed storytelling to have a similar number of challenges and benefits as face-to-face storytelling. However, two of the reported advantages, enhanced creativity and self-confidence, sit at misconceptions based on trainees’ limited knowledge of the pedagogical potential of multimodal resources. The findings have important educational implications in helping develop a pedagogy of videoed storytelling, while also highlighting the need for teacher training programs to specifically target the development of teachers’ competence in multimodal pedagogy.

The Complex Adaptive Systems Principles (CASP) model of SLA claims that L1 transfer results when language processing effort is minimized. This claim was investigated by a self-paced on-line sentence judgment task in which L1 Arabic and Korean speakers and a control group of L1 English speakers read and judged English subject, direct object, and oblique relative clauses (RCs) in gapped and resumptive pronoun (RP) conditions. It was hypothesized that L1 influence would cause the Arabic speakers to accept English RCs with RPs more frequently than Korean speakers because RPs are acceptable in Arabic direct object and oblique RCs, whereas Korean bans RPs in these RC types. It was also hypothesized that the L2 English speakers would accept RPs more often than the L1 English speakers because RPs would ease L2 sentence processing. As predicted, L1 Arabic speakers accepted RPs more frequently than L1 Korean speakers, a transfer effect, and both L2 English groups accepted RPs more frequently than L1 English speakers, a processing effect. The results thus support the CASP model’s claim that L1 transfer is conditioned by language processing and other complex SLA processes that interact with one another.

The current study looked at the influence of different L1s, different proficiency levels, and other factors on the think-alouds in connection with oppositional speech acts by eighty tertiary-level Korean and Chinese learners of L2 English at two proficiency levels. The research instruments consisted of think-aloud protocols elicited during the learners’ production of written oppositional speech acts in the form of responses to the other learners’ essays, questionnaires, and focus group interviews. In particular, in the think-aloud protocols the number and content of pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) were identified. The results indicated that proficiency level, but not L1, significantly impacted the learners’ think-alouds. Other factors were revealed to include intensification of claims, focus on face issues, pragmatic transfer, and insufficient syntactic/semantic knowledge. These factors related to the sub-categories of the PREs involving ‘lexical upgrading’ and ‘external downgrading’.

Boredom has recently become the subject of inquiry in L2 studies, which has resulted, among others, in the development and validation of several boredom-measuring scales, mostly through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). However, such analytical procedures are not free from limitations and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) can be applied to overcome them. CFA has also been used to validate the Boredom in Learning English Outside of School Questionnaire (BLEOS), an instrument which taps into recently conceptualized after-class boredom, revealing the extent to which students are likely to feel bored when they attempt to practice the target language outside the classroom as well as factors underpinning this negative emotion in such contexts. The present study sought to revisit the BLEOS scale to determine (1) whether the factor structure of the BLEOS is supported by ESEM and bifactor ESEM, (2) how stable the results are across gender, and (3) the criterion-related validity of the BLEOS scale. In doing so, the CFA and ESEM models (i.e., standard and bifactor CFA as well as standard and bifactor ESEM models) were compared to identify which model(s) would exhibit better fit indices for the measure in question. A total of 433 students majoring in English, 120 males and 313 females, participated in this study. It was revealed that while the CFA model provided an inflated factor correlation and unacceptable model fit to the data, ESEM (especially bifactor ESEM) indicated a realistic representation of the data with a good fit. The bi-factor ESEM model of the BLEOS turned out to be stable across gender. Finally, the structural bifactor ESEM model of BLEOS proved to explain learning outcomes modestly.

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is a high-stakes test for students in higher education in Taiwan to fulfill the English-language graduation requirement. However, little is known regarding the vocabulary threshold for the test or the effects of the lexical coverage and profiles of test items on the adequate comprehension of the test. This study used a validated Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT) and the TOEIC listening subtest to estimate learners’ aural vocabulary knowledge required for an exit TOEIC listening score. The findings showed: (1) aural lexical knowledge accounted for more than half of the variance in comprehension performance; (2) a minimum level of 3,000 word families for a lexical coverage of 98 % considerably affected the comprehension of spoken texts; and (3) lexical profiles varied in the individual parts of the listening subtest, with a range of 3,000–5,000 word families required for achieving a lexical coverage of 98 %. The crucial role of lexical knowledge/coverage in comprehension performance on the exit test was discussed.

Previous research has documented cross-linguistic influence in L2 grammatical gender acquisition and use. However, it remains unclear what role previously learned languages play in gender assignment beyond L2. To address this question, we created a timed gender decision task with which we tested two groups of L1 Polish university students of Swedish as an additional language: 65 L2 English/L3 Swedish students, and 52 L2 English/L3 German/L4 Swedish students. Adopting a pseudo-longitudinal design, we tested individuals who had completed one, two, or three to four years of studies. Accuracy and response time data were submitted to Generalised Linear Models. The results show that L4 Swedish students did not outperform L3 Swedish students in terms of accuracy. However, L4 Swedish students assigned gender to nouns faster than L3 Swedish students, but only after one year of studies. The response time advantage of L4S students was attributed to the surface transfer of the German gender values into Swedish. Apart from the specific effect of German, the results point to the robust effects of gender congruency with L1 Polish and the persistent tendency to overgeneralise uter gender.

This experimental study attempts to put to the test Cummins’ (1978) Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) in reading between English (L2) and Arabic (L3). Two groups of comparison and experimental attended this study. The experimental group received reading strategy instruction while the comparison group received the traditional form of reading instruction in L2. Both groups received reading comprehension tests in L2 and L3 before and after the instructions. An interview was finally conducted for a more in-depth investigation. Analysis of quantitative data evinced overall reading comprehension ability significantly improved only in the experimental group in both languages, supporting Cummins’ LIH. Componentially, only the inferential component improved significantly for the experimental group, showing different components contribute differently to the interdependence between languages. Qualitative findings showed miscellaneous results in linguistic, cognitive, and affective domains which were evidence of both interdependence and non-interdependence between L2 and L3. The pedagogical implication is further discussed.

The present study explored if textual enhancement would promote incidental learning of collocations from reading-while-listening, and if synchronizing the timing of textual enhancement to the audio could affect the efficacy of textual enhancement. Fifty-six Korean speakers engaged in reading-while-listening of two English stories under one of three conditions: no enhancement, target collocations coloured in red, and target collocations dynamically turning to red in synchronization with the audio. The target collocations were 12 adjective-pseudonoun pairs, and participants’ learning was measured with a series of recall and recognition tests on pseudonoun form, meaning, and collocations, recording both response accuracy and latency. The results from mixed-effects modeling revealed that both colouring conditions promoted receptive knowledge about the target collocations, and synchronized colouring further boosted semantic processing of the pseudonouns. The findings indicate that synchronization between textual and audio input could be a useful catalyst to encourage deeper engagement with the enhanced features.

This study, based on Jiang’s (2000. Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics 21(1). 47–77) bilingual lexicon model, investigates the learnability of collocations among 34 Japanese EFL learners and examines the influence of their L1 on such learning. An acceptability judgment task assessed the knowledge of three different types of collocations: English-only collocations that cannot be directly translated into Japanese (e.g., flat rate ); congruent collocations that can be translated into Japanese without changing their meaning (e.g., cold tea ); and Japanized collocations that are infelicitous in English, but felicitous in Japanese (e.g., yellow voice ). After the task, participants translated the collocations and rated the difficulty on a four-point Likert scale. The relationship between the accuracy of these collocations and the translation difficulty rating scores was analyzed using mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to assess L1 influence. The results showed that with increasing L2 proficiency, learners tend to regard congruent and English-only collocations as acceptable, but even highly proficient learners did not fully reject the Japanized collocations. This suggests that as L2 proficiency increased, participants learned to accept felicitous collocations but did not learn to reject Japanized infelicitous ones. In addition, the influence of L1 was evident in English-only and Japanized collocations and could not be avoided by those with increasing proficiency.

Interlanguage pragmatics has been the focus of many studies since its inception in the 1980s, with several issues being investigated and a variety of approaches being applied. However, studies on the learning processes and strategies which are specifically responsible for the acquisition of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) knowledge are rare. Therefore, the current investigation sought to examine the effects of selected individual differences (IDs), including age, gender, language learning experience (LLE), and L2 proficiency, on the use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) in a sample of 160 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The data were collected utilizing a six-point IPLS inventory which contained 58 6-point Likert scale items that were divided into six subcategories. Data analysis using independent samples t -tests revealed that young learners used significantly more IPLS compared to their adult counterparts; nonetheless, there were no significant differences in the use of the IPLS between the female and male learners. At the same time, two one-way ANOVAs indicated that LLE and L2 proficiency played a significant role in the use of IPLS, that is, learners with longer LLE and higher proficiency levels used more IPLS. These findings have some pedagogical implications for L2 learners and teachers.

This article highlight and discuss the complex situation when deaf adults who are emergent readers learn Swedish Sign Language (STS) and Swedish in parallel. As Swedish appears primarily in its written form, they also have to develop reading and writing skills. Study data comes from ethnographically created video recordings of classroom interaction and interviews with teachers and participants. The analysis reveals that while the migrants successively learn basic STS for interacting with other deaf people, learning Swedish takes a different path. The migrants struggle with learning basic reading and writing skills, vocabulary, and grammar. Furthermore, the instruction is highly repetitive, but unstructured and sprawled, using STS to explain and connect signs with written equivalents. The teachers testify in interviews that it seems very difficult for the emergent readers to learn Swedish on a level good enough to cope in Swedish society, which, in turn, puts them in a vulnerable position.

This study explored the benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese by (a) comparing the texts written collaboratively versus individually and (b) investigating the effects of collaborative writing on subsequent individual writing. Forty-four English-speaking students enrolled in an intermediate Chinese course were assigned to a collaborative writing group and an individual writing group. All participants completed a timed in-class writing task at the beginning and end of the semester, working as pre-and post-tests. The participants in the collaborative writing group completed two out-of-class writing assignments in pairs through online written chats, while those in the individual writing group completed the same tasks individually. The texts were analyzed for content, organization, character and lexical accuracy, and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U tests and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests) were performed on the data for statistical analyses. The online chats were segmented into different episodes (e.g., language- and content-related episodes) to provide in-depth explanation for the findings. The effect of collaboration was examined from two aspects. The comparison between the texts written collaboratively versus individually showed that the collaborative texts were significantly better than those composed individually in organization and lexical accuracy. The pre-post comparison between collaborative and individual writing groups observed that collaboration contributed positively to subsequent individual writing quality by significantly impacting its content and lexical accuracy.

This study investigated the effect of using the Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM), with or without additional revision and video-guided practice, on junior primary students’ spoken recall accuracy in French. The same beginner AIM French activities were taught by a language specialist to 12 classes in four junior primary levels. Three different conditions of instruction were used each week: (1) one session of AIM instruction, (2) one session of AIM instruction plus one session of revision, and (3) one session of AIM instruction, plus one session of revision, and three sessions of video input. The instruction and revision sessions were facilitated by a language teacher, whereas the video sessions were played by the main class teacher. A two-way ANOVA revealed that Year 1 students benefited from a revision session with the language teacher, but Prep and Year 1 did not benefit from further video exposure. Conversely, the Years 2 and 3 students did not benefit from extra revision with the language teacher, but they did benefit from additional video exposure. Direct observation of the student response to the AIM suggested that the pace of the program needed to be slower for the younger learners.

Since teacher work engagement is argued to substantially affect education quality and learners’ performance, unveiling the factors affecting teacher engagement is of high significance. As an attempt to explore the antecedents of this construct in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers, we tested a structural model of work engagement based on teachers’ professional identity, grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment. A sample of 476 EFL teachers in Iran was requested to complete an online survey constituting the valid scales of the four constructs. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results indicated that the model fitted the data sufficiently. The model revealed that teachers’ grit, professional identity, and foreign language teaching enjoyment were the direct correlates of work engagement. Additionally, professional identity affected work engagement indirectly via foreign language teaching enjoyment and grit. Also, foreign language teaching enjoyment influenced work engagement through the mediation of grit. We conclude our study with a discussion on the implications of the findings.

This study aims to uncover the combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution (i.e., the distribution of one-construction only verbs and alternating verbs across English) and verb semantics on Chinese EFL learners’ restriction of generalization of English prenominal past participles (PPPs). Three groups were formed: a lexicalist group, a generalist group, and a mixed group. During the treatment, the lexicalist group were exposed to input involving one-construction only verbs exclusively; the generalist group, alternating verbs only; the mixed group, both one-construction only and alternating verbs. An acceptability judgment task was employed to assess L2 learners’ construction generalization. The study found that, (1) the Lexicalist group exhibited significantly less generalization with the known state-change verbs than either the Generalist or the Mixed group, and significantly less generalization with the known non-state-change verbs than the Generalist group; (2) the Lexicalist group showed less generalization with extensive exposure one-construction only new verbs than the mixed group whereas the generalist and the mixed group did not differ significantly regarding construction preference of extensive exposure alternating new verbs; (3) the Lexicalist group were significantly less likely to generalize the PPP-only minimal exposure new verb than either the Generalist or Mixed group, and significantly less liable to generalize the relative clause (RC)-only minimal exposure new verb as opposed to the Generalist group; (4) moreover, the three groups differed significantly in regularization (operationalized as the number of participants who tended to accept each verb in only one of two competing constructions) of no exposure new verbs, with the lexicalist group producing more regularization than the other two groups.

Conceptual mediation is one of the competences described by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) during the acquisition of foreign languages. When practicing mediation, learners collaborate in the construction of knowledge to conduct activities that require higher-level cognitive skills, such as teamwork. This study analyzes the communicative functions and L1 use in peer interaction during a conceptual mediation activity in a group of students following Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) instruction and another receiving traditional language tuition. The sample was made up of 60 L1 Spanish, L2 German speakers enrolled in a A2.2 German course (age 18–20). For the analysis, the oral interaction of the groups was recorded through an online videoconference platform. The type of mediation used as well as the presence or absence of speakers’ L1 (Spanish) were assessed. The analysis demonstrates that groups following a CLIL approach resorted to regulative discourse for work organization purposes (relational mediation) more frequently than those students following a more traditional approach. Regarding the use of the L1, non-CLIL groups used their first language to a greater degree in regulative discourse and during communicative mediation, that is, when they had to resort to translation to ensure comprehension among peers.

This study investigates whether forms associated with verbal inflection can be acquired in relation to two UG-based L2 acquisition hypotheses: the Full Transfer Full Access (FTFA) Hypothesis (Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 1994. Word order and nominative case in nonnative language acquisition: A longitudinal study of (L1 Turkish) German interlanguage. In Teun Hoekstra & Bonnie D. Schwartz (eds.), Language acquisition Studies in generative grammar , 317–368. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, Schwartz, Bonnie & Rex Sprouse. 1996. L2 cognitive states and the ‘full transfer/full access’ model. Second Language Research 12. 40–72) and the Interpretability Hypothesis (Tsimpli, Ianthi-maria & Maria Dimitrakopoulou. 2007. The Interpretability hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 23. 215–242). The former captures the insight that convergence on grammars like those of native speakers is possible, whereas the latter argues that a native/non-native divergence results from the inaccessibility of some uninterpretable syntactic features. Ninety adult L1 speakers of Chinese of different English proficiency levels were asked to interpret and produce tense and agreement in various contexts in three tasks. Results suggest that the underlying grammatical representations in the end-state grammar may not be the same as native speakers’. We speculate that the inaccessibility of the uninterpretable [uInfl:] feature of v and the uninterpretable [uInfl:*] feature of be are the potential source of difficulty in acquiring verbal inflection in L2 English.