Many studies have investigated the production and perception of second language learners. However, very few of them have discussed the effect of orthography. Although Mandarin and Cantonese share the same orthographic system, the phonological systems of the two languages are quite different. This preliminary study investigates the production and perception of Mandarin tones by Cantonese learner...

This paper introduces an experimental study of Mandarin tonal sequences produced by native English speakers. Sound recordings of learners’ Mandarin have been analyzed empirically and acoustically. The conclusions are as follows: tonal variation in accented Mandarin is not correlated to the original Mandarin tones or the context of the original Mandarin tons. The pronounced Mandarin tones select...

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between behavioral and emotional engagement of Iranian EFL learners and their attachment to their teachers. Both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their relationships and students’ engagement have been taken into account. Questionnaire data provided by 311 EFL students and 70 EFL  teachers was used to investigate the relation betwee...

second language  learners often develop grammatical competence in the absence of concomitant pragmatic competence (kasper & roever, 2005) and the exact nature of the relationship between the two competences is still indistinct and in need of inquiries ( bardovi-harlig, 1999; khatib & ahmadisafa, 2011). this study is a partial attempt to address the lacuna and aims to see if any relation...

the present study investigated the use of l2 private speech by english foreign language (efl) learners in regulating their mental activities. thirty intermediate adult efl learners took a test of solving challenging english riddles while their voices were being recorded. following, instances of the produced private speech were analyzed in terms of form, content, and function. numerous instances...

Two empirical studies were conducted in which the differences in Japanese EFL learners’ look-up behavior between hand-held electronic dictionaries (EDs) and printed dictionaries (PDs) were investigated. We focus here on the relation between learners’ look-up frequency and degree of reading comprehension of the text. In the first study, a total of 34 college students were divided into two groups...

In this paper we report on our quantitative analysis of 25 logical connectors in advanced Japanese university students’ essay writing and compare it with the use in comparable types of native English writing. We also present a brief comparison of the Japanese learners’ usage with that of advanced French, Swedish or Chinese learners of English. As our research targets, we chose 25 logical connec...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Iranian EFL learners’ beliefs on the role of RL in vocabulary learning, and how it could affect their achievement. One-hundred and three students majoring in English (Literature, Translation, and Teaching) at the Departments of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at Roudehen and the Western Branch of Islamic Azad University participated in this stu...

This study adds to the body of empirical knowledge regarding the use of music in the EFL classroom. This original investigation centered around the following question: Does listening repetition, song likeability, and/or song understandability influence learning environment perceptions, learning perceptions, and/or learning outcomes in Taiwanese EFL learners engaged in web-based music study? The...