Performance deficiencies and inconsistencies among SLA or FL learners can be attributed to variety of sources including both systemic (i.e., language issues) and individual variables.  Contrary to a rich background, the literature still suffers from a gap as far as delving into the issue from language proficiency and learning style is concerned. To fill the gap, this study addressed EFL learner...

This study employed an artificial language learning paradigm together with a combined behavioral/event-related potential (ERP) approach to examine the neurocognition of the processing of gender agreement, an aspect of inflectional morphology that is problematic in adult second language (L2) learning. Subjects learned to speak and comprehend an artificial language under either explicit (classroo...

The latency of the brain response to semantic anomalies (N400 effect) has been found to be longer in a bilingual's second language (L2) than in their first language (L1) and/or to that seen in monolinguals. This has been explained in terms of late exposure to L2, although age of exposure and language proficiency are often highly correlated. We thus examined the relative contributions of these f...

This study examined the effect of language proficiency on repeated mention reduction in L2 English spontaneous speech by Korean native speakers. We found a significant effect of L2 proficiency on word duration in repeated mentions. Specifically, as with native English speakers (EN), Korean learners of English with high English proficiency (KH) reduced the duration of repeated words, while those...

Are U.S. immigrants' English proficiency and social outcomes the result of their cultural preferences, or of more fundamental constraints? Using 2000 Census microdata, we relate immigrants' English proficiency, marriage, fertility and residential location variables to their age at arrival in the U.S., and in particular whether that age fell within the "critical period" of language acquisition. ...

A naturalistic experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) can indirectly improve L2 oral proficiency by developing the same cognitive mechanisms underlying spontaneous conversational speech. The theoretical framework guiding this inquiry consists of Levelt’s (1989) model of language production augmented by concepts from Working Memory ...