some scholars have argued that there is a negative correlation between the onset age of l2 acquisition and performance on different measures of l2 knowledge. a kind of biological scheduling is assumed to be responsible for this maturational constraint on language development. the present study asks whether and to what extent critical period effects can be found for universal properties of langu...

We present a pronunciation error detection method for second language learners of English (L2 learners). The method is a combination of confidence scoring and landmark-based Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Landmark-based SVMs were implemented to specialize the method for the specific phonemes with which L2 learners make frequent errors. The method was trained for the difficult phonemes for Kore...

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the brain regions underlying language task performance in adult second language (L2) learners. Specifically, we identified brain regions where the level of activation was associated with L2 fluency levels. Thirty Japanese-speaking adults participated in the study. All participants were L2 learners of English and had achieved v...

People are constrained by their culture and social life when telling stories. A second language learner then cannot be expected to tell stories in the target language without cross-cultural effects that influence the way of narration. The present study examined the role of the first language (L1) and second language (L2) in the organization of narratives by focusing on Persian speakers’ and EFL...

Computerized dynamic assessment has been proposed as a solution to the practicality issues involved in ordinary dynamic assessment procedures. However, most of computerized dynamic assessment studies have addressed receptive skills (i.e., reading and listening). Responding to the scarcity of CDA studies of productive skills, the present study was an attempt to design and implement a computerize...

According  to  a  basic  prediction  made  by  the  Revised  Hierarchical  Model  (RHM),  at  early  stages  of language  acquisition,  strong  L2-L1  lexical  links  are  formed.  RHM  predicts  that  these  links  weaken with  increasing  proficiency,  although  they  do  not  disappear  even  at  higher  levels  of  language development. To test this prediction, two groups of highly proficie...

The present study investigated any probable relationship between theidentity processing styles and L2 literacy of advanced Persian EFL learners. Theparticipants included 160 (female = 109, male = 51) advanced EFL Iranian learners.The instruments used included a simulation of the TOEFL iBT test, measuring theparticipants’ L2 literacy-related proficiency, reading, and writing, and the identitysty...

Foreign accent is judged by the degree to which the non-native (L2) production is perceived differently from production patterns by native speakers (NL) [1]. Both segmental and suprasegmental features are shown influential in accent perception by NL speakers or L2 learners [2]-[4]. However, roles of prosodic cues in the process are not well known yet. Our study aims to investigate effects of in...

The present study examined the relationship between willingness to communicate (WTC) and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation among Iranian intermediate learners of English. It also attempted to identify the motivational orientations which best predicted learners’ WTC. Moreover, it measured Iranian intermediate learners’ willingness to read (WTR), willingness to listen (WTL), and willingness to write...