By using event-related potentials (ERPs, Experiment 2) and reaction times (RTs, Experiment 1), the present study examined interlanguage differences between Japanese and English in audiovisual speech perception [1, 2, 3, 4]. There were an auditory-only (AO) and a congruent auditory-visual (AV) conditions. In Experiment 1, RTs showed opposite tendencies between English-language (EL) and Japanese-...

Although is a frequently used subordinating conjunction in English. However, non-nativeness is often observed in Chinese EFL learners’ although output during pedagogical practice. This paper aims at exploring the characteristics of Chinese EFL learners’ although employment in Chinese EFL learners’ writing. The study is a corpus-based analysis launched under the analytical framework of contrasti...

This paper presents recent extensions to our ongoing effort in developing speech recognition for automatic mispronunciation detection and diagnosis in the interlanguage of Chinese learners of English. We have developed a set of context-sensitive phonological rules based on cross-language (Cantonese versus English) analysis which has also been validated against common mispronunciations observed ...

Error Analysis is one of the major topics in the field of second language acquisition research. Errors are an integral part of language learning. The learner of English as a second language is unaware of the existence of the particular system or rule in English language. The learner’s errors have long been interested for second and foreign language researchers. The basic task of error analysis ...

This study examined the intelligibility of native and Mandarin-accented English speech for native English and native Mandarin listeners. In the latter group, it also examined the role of the language environment and English proficiency. Three groups of listeners were tested: native English listeners (NE), Mandarin-speaking Chinese listeners in the US (M-US) and Mandarin listeners in Beijing, Ch...

The role of the mother tongue has been a major topic of second language acquisition research over the last few decades, but despite the overwhelming empirical evidence of cross-linguistic influence in learner language a number Of questions still remain to be answered: what and how much is transferred when, how and why? This study explores the extent to which a theory of linguistic naturalness —...

The present study investigated the effects of cognitive complexity of pedagogical tasks on the learners’ uptake of salient features in the input. For the purpose of data collection, three versions of a decision-making task (simple, mid, and complex) were employed. Three intact classes (each 20 language learners) were randomly assigned to three groups.  Each group transacted a version of a decis...