When considering the process of second language acquisition, it is useful and important to distinguish between input and intake since, due to various factors, language learners do not take in all the language they are exposed to. Perceptual saliency—a formal characteristic of the input—is believed to be one of these factors. This experiment was conducted to determine how the presence of sandhi‐variation, a common characteristic of spoken English which reduces the perceptual saliency of many of its features, affects the comprehensibility of English input. Assuming that comprehension is dependent not only on signal clarity but also on cognitive factors, it was hypothesized that the presence of sandhi‐variation in the input would reduce comprehension less when listeners were proficient in English than when they were learning the language. The results support this hypothesis and lead to the conclusion that for those whose knowledge of English is sufficient to compensate for reduced perceptual saliency. sandhi‐variation affects the input‐to‐intake process very little. For ESL learners, however, sandhi‐variation is an important input‐intake filter. These findings are discussed in connection with the input hypothesis of second language acquisition. Implications include the possible benefits of modified input and formal instruction for ESL learners.
Innovation and reform are crucial to progress, but higher education institutions are by nature highly resistant to change. This article describes long-term strategic incrementalism, an approach to change advocated by L. Cuban, How scholars trumped teachers: Change without reform in university curriculum, teaching, and research, 1890-1990, Teachers College Press, New York, NY, 1999, and proposes a model based on this approach as a proven way of successfully carrying out change within higher education. The approach and model are illustrated through two cases involving reforms-one at the department level and another at the institutional level.
Computer-assisted pronunciation teaching (CAPT) for second-language learners has made great strides in recent years. While once small in number and confined to desktop computers, a great variety of CAPT resources are available online today. These resources provide instructional activities of various types, utilize different sensory modalities, and give different types of feedback. After discussing the many, long-promised, potential benefits of CAPT, this article outlines the basic principles of seven categories of CAPT resources and provides examples of each category.
This study investigated the social networks developed by language learners during 14 weeks of an intensive English as a second language (ESL) program using the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (Dewey, Bown, Baker, Martinsen, Gold, & Eggett, 2014;Dewey, Bown, & Eggett, 2012). It also utilized native speaker judgments to evaluate ESL fluency development. Results showed that participants were successful in developing complex social networks, that their oral fluency increased significantly, and that fluency gains were related to L2 social networks. Density (average number of people in a social group) was the most important predictor of fluency gain when only social network variables were considered. In a hierarchical regression, initial proficiency level and percentage of native English speakers in one’s network were the most significant of the established variables in the first step, and overall network size and density were the most important of the added social network variables in the second step.
To arrive at an answer to the question of which kinds of train ing to offer in its ESOL teacher preparation program, the Communi cations and Language Arts Division of Brigham Young University — Hawaii Campus conducted an international needs assessment survey of TESOL educators and employers dealing with the areas they felt prospective ESOL teachers should be prepared in. This report' discusses previous related research, explains the specific purposes and methods of the BYU-HC survey, analyzes the responses to ques tionnaire items in four general and sixty specific areas of TESOL training, and arrives at conclusions based on this analysis. In the analysis, responses of the overall group surveyed and those of a number of geographical and institutional-status subgroups are com pared and significant intergroup differences are noted. Generally, questionnaire respondents expressed a need for more extensive train ing in TESOL methods and materials and in specific techniques for teaching language skills - especially listening comprehension.
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