This paper reports on a case study that explored the effect of an English-as-Second Language (ESL) computer program at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), South Africa. The case study explored participants’ perceptions, attitudes and beliefs regarding the ESL reading enhancement program, Reading ExcellenceTM. The study found that participants experienced the program in a positive light. The...

A computer-based Spoken Spanish Test (SST) was developed to provide an accurate and convenient assessment of speaking and listening for learners of Spanish. The SST is intended to measure a candidate’s receptive familiarity with a variety of forms of Spanish and the candidate’s facility in speaking Spanish. The SST test takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete, all the items are presented in...

In the acquisition of foreign languages, it is a challenge to achieve a near­native level, particularly in academic contexts. This is certainly important in the case of future foreign language teachers, because they are responsible to transfer their knowledge. In this sense, a continuous formation is needed in order to acquire an academic level. However, most of these students finished their un...

In this study I examine the construct of aptitude in learningChinese as a second language (L2) to an advanced level. I test 2 hypotheses: first, that L2 aptitude comprises 4 components—working memory, rote memory, grammatical sensitivity, and phonemic coding ability—and second, that L2 aptitude affects learning both directly and indirectly (mediated by strategy use and motivation). Native speak...

This article describes a STARTALK intensive summer high school Mandarin language and culture program that was conducted for three summers. Participants across the three years included 40Mandarin Level II and 53Mandarin Level III high school students. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented to show the effectiveness of the program. Students’ language proficiency scores showed significant...

TOEFL test is one type of English testing system to measure takers’ proficiency in grammar and structures as well academic skills such listening reading. Within Indonesian higher education context, postgraduate department students are required have a minimum score 500 order be able pass the thesis exam or graduate. As foreign language students, having high would challenging for them. This study...

The hypothesis of this interaction research project is that it can be stimulating for experimental musicians to confront a system which ‘opposes’ their musical style. The ‘contrary motion’ of the title is the name of a MIDI-based realtime musical software agent which uses machine listening to establish the musical context, and thereby chooses its own responses to differentiate its position from...

Inhibitory control, a core component of executive functions, refers to our ability to suppress intended or ongoing cognitive or motor processes. Mostly based on Go/NoGo paradigms, a considerable amount of literature reports that inhibitory control of responses to "NoGo" stimuli is mediated by top-down mechanisms manifesting ∼200 ms after stimulus onset within frontoparietal networks. However, w...

Multi-talker conversations challenge the perceptual and cognitive capabilities of older adults and those listening in their second language (L2). In older adults these difficulties could reflect declines in the auditory, cognitive, or linguistic processes supporting speech comprehension. The tendency of L2 listeners to invoke some of the semantic and syntactic processes from their first languag...