Practice tests for IGCSE English as a second language : listening and speaking (Book 1) . Audio CDs extended level.

Dos CDs audio aprobados por la Universidad Cambridge International Examinations para la preparación del examen IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) en la asignatura de 'Inglés como segundo idioma', y para ser usados junto al libro de texto 'Listening and speaking revised edition (Book 1)'. Los tests de compresión auditiva permitirán a los alumnos practicar la identificación de información concreta, la toma de notas esquemáticas y la compresión de significados, opiniones y actitudes más complejas.

Practice tests for IGCSE English as a second language : listening and speaking (book 2) . Audio CDs extenden level.

Dos CDs audio aprobados por la Universidad Cambridge International Examinations para la preparación del examen IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) en la asignatura de 'Inglés como segundo idioma', y para ser usados junto al libro de texto 'Listening and speaking book 2'. Contienen cuatro tests de compresión oral y auditiva que permitirán a los alumnos practicar la identificación de información concreta, la toma de notas esquemáticas y la compresión de significados, opiniones y actitudes más complejas.

Practice tests for IGCSE English as a second language : listening and speaking (book 1) . Audio CDs core level.

Dos CDs audio aprobados por la Universidad Cambridge International Examinations para la preparación del examen IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) en la asignatura de 'Inglés como segundo idioma' de nivel básico, y para ser usados junto al libro de texto 'Listening and speaking revised edition (book 1)'. Los tests de compresión oral y auditiva permitirán a los alumnos practicar la identificación de información concreta, la toma de notas esquemáticas y la compresión de significados, opiniones y actitudes más complejas.

Implicit and explicit processes in a second-language learning task

Two experiments examined the learning of a set of Greek pronunciation rules through explicit and implicit modes of rule presentation. Experiment 1 compared the effectiveness of implicit and explicit modes of presentation in two modalities, visual and auditory. Subjects in the explicit or rule group were presented with the rule set, and those in the implicit or natural group were shown a set of Greek words, composed of letters from the rule set, linked to their pronunciations. Subjects learned the Greek words to criterion and were then given a series of tests which aimed to tap different types of knowledge. The results showed an advantage of explicit study of the rules. In addition, an interaction was found between mode of presentation and modality. Explicit instruction was more effective in the visual than in the auditory modality, whereas there was no modality effect for implicit instruction. Experiment 2 examined a possible reason for the advantage of the rule groups by comparing different combinations of explicit and implicit presentation in the study and learning phases. The results suggested that explicit presentation of the rules is only beneficial when it is followed by practice at applying them.

Gaps in second language sentence processing

Four groups of second language (L2) learners of English from different language backgrounds (Chinese, Japanese, German, and Greek) and a group of native speaker controls participated in an online reading time experiment with sentences involving long-distance whdependencies. Although the native speakers showed evidence of making use of intermediate syntactic gaps during processing, the L2 learners appeared to associate the fronted wh-phrase directly with its lexical subcategorizer, regardless of whether the subjacency constraint was operative in their native language. This finding is argued to support the hypothesis that nonnative comprehenders underuse syntactic information in L2 processing.

Motivation in second language acquisition in Chinese research students in the UK

The present study sets out to examine motivation to learn English by Chinese research students in an informal setting. Data were collected, using semi-structured interviews, from four research students at two points in time during their first year in the UK. The main findings are: they believed that learning English was important; their main goal orientations were instrumental and extrinsic; they set learning goals and persisted to attain them; they valued their current learning environment in general and saw it as supportive of their goals; they held both positive and negative attitudes towards the British, which had differential effects on their motivation; their self-perceived support seemed to have a positive impact on their motivation and the development of self-confidence; they tended to attribute their success to stable causes such as the environment and failure to unstable but controllable causes such as effort. It is concluded that qualitative data of this kind may complement insights from quantitative research. Implications for target country institutions in the provision of support are discussed.

Processing of regular and irregular past tense morphology in highly proficient second language learners of English: a self-paced reading study

Dual-system models suggest that English past tense morphology involves two processing routes: rule application for regular verbs and memory retrieval for irregular verbs (Pinker, 1999). In second language (L2) processing research, Ullman (2001a) suggested that both verb types are retrieved from memory, but more recently Clahsen and Felser (2006) and Ullman (2004) argued that past tense rule application can be automatised with experience by L2 learners. To address this controversy, we tested highly proficient Greek-English learners with naturalistic or classroom L2 exposure compared to native English speakers in a self-paced reading task involving past tense forms embedded in plausible sentences. Our results suggest that, irrespective to the type of exposure, proficient L2 learners of extended L2 exposure apply rule-based processing.

Processing empty categories in a second language: When naturalistic exposure fills the (intermediate) gap

An ongoing debate on second language (L2) processing revolves around whether or not L2 learners process syntactic information similarly to monolinguals (L1), and what factors lead to a native-like processing. According to the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Clahsen & Felser, 2006a), L2 learners’ processing does not include abstract syntactic features, such as intermediate gaps of wh-movement, but relies more on lexical/semantic information. Other researchers have suggested that naturalistic L2 exposure can lead to native-like processing (Dussias, 2003). This study investigates the effect of naturalistic exposure in processing wh-dependencies. Twenty-six advanced Greek learners of L2 English with an average nine years of naturalistic exposure, 30 with classroom exposure, and 30 native speakers of English completed a self-paced reading task with sentences involving intermediate gaps. L2 learners with naturalistic exposure showed evidence of native-like processing of the intermediate gaps, suggesting that linguistic immersion can lead to native-like abstract syntactic processing in the L2.