Literature is replete with the studies focusing on the role of vocabulary knowledge in second language receptive skills. However, the relationship between the aspects of vocabulary knowledge and productive skills in general, and the speaking performance in particular has remained scanty in the related literature. This paper examined the relationship between knowledge of L2 vocabulary size at di...

Loosely speaking, the Shannon entropy rate is used to gauge a stochastic process’ intrinsic randomness; the statistical complexity gives the cost of predicting the process. We calculate, for the first time, the entropy rate and statistical complexity of stochastic processes generated by finite unifilar hidden semi-Markov models—memoryful, state-dependent versions of renewal processes. Calculati...

This study aimed to investigate the impact of pre-speaking activities on Iranian intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ oral performance. The study followed a quasi-experimental design in which subjects of the study were non-randomly selected. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to select 100 intermediate EFL learners as the main sample. Then they were divided randomly into...

In this paper, we present the collection and analysis of a spoken dialogue corpus obtained from interactions of older and younger users with a smart-home system. Our aim is to identify the amount and the origin of linguistic differences in the way older and younger users address the system. In addition, we investigate changes in the users’ linguistic behaviour after exposure to the system. The ...

This is an experimental study which aimed at investigating the ralationsship between working memory capacity and measures of L2 speech performance in a picture description task. The main assumption underlying the present study was that L2 speaking is a complex cognitive task which is carried out within the constraints of a limited-capacity system, namely, working memory. In this system, there a...

this study examined the effects of task complexity on written narrative production under different task complexity conditions by efl learners at different proficiency levels. task complexity was manipulated along robinson’s (2001b) proposed task complexity dimension of here-and-now (simple) vs. there-and-then (complex) in. accordingly, three specific measures of the written narratives were targ...

This study attempted to examine the relationship between WTC and two types of speaking tasks:Dialogue and narrative/monologue. The significance of this study lies in its theoreticalcontributions to the WTC construct and the pedagogical implications in second languageteaching and learning. Sixty one intermediate female EFL learners were selected through anOxford Placement Test (OPT) from Tabares...

This study intended to inspect the possible effects of teaching English lexical clusters on speaking accuracy of Iranian EFL intermediate learners. Also it examined the influence of gender on the effect of teaching English lexical clusters on speaking accuracy of the same learners. 41 male and female EFL intermediate learners, studying  English at intermediate level at Zabankade Institute in Te...

research on multiword clusters (chunks) is based on the assumption that native speakers use plenty of chunks in their everyday language and they are considered as fluent speakers of language. therefore the present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of using chunks on speaking fluency of iranian efl learners. in the first phase of the study, the students of two intermediate classes s...