Many language courses now offer access to simplified materials graded at various levels of proficiency so that learners can read at length in their new language. An assumed benefit is the development of large and rapidly accessed second language (L2) lexicons. Studies of such extensive reading (ER) programs indicate general language gains, but few examine vocabulary growth; none identify the words available for learning in an entire ER program or measure the extent to which participants learn them. This article describes a way of tackling this measurement challenge using electronic scanning, lexical frequency profiling, and individualized checklist testing. The method was pilot tested in an ER program where 21 ESL learners freely chose books that interested them. The innovative methodology proved to be feasible to implement and effective in assessing word knowledge gains. Growth rates were higher than those found in earlier studies. Research applications of the flexible corpus-based approach are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is possible to distinguish between "difficult" and "easy" constructions for second language (L2) learners by examining characteristics of the structures as they occur in aural input. In a multidimensional analysis of 3 English structures with different acquisition profiles-the simple past, possessive determiners his/her , and the progressive aspect-we examined the phonological, morphosyntactic, and lexicosemantic characteristics of the forms as they occurred in a 110,000-word corpus of instructional talk to L2 learners. We analyzed the type/token distributions of the forms, their lexical properties, and their perceptual salience. Our findings revealed key input factors that distinguished between the early-acquired progressive, on the one hand, and the later-acquired past and his/her determiners, on the other hand. These results lend support to theoretical accounts of the input-acquisition relationship and also generate hypotheses for manipulating instructional input to increase the salience of opaque constructions. WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO MAKINGA LINguistic structure easy or difficult to acquire? More The Modern Language Journal, 93, iii, (2009) 0026-7902/09/336-353 $1.50/0 C 2009 The Modern Language Journalspecifically, what can a close examination of the spoken input to which learners are exposed tell us about this easy/difficult conundrum? To address this issue, we took a multidimensional approach to the analysis of a 110,000-word corpus of teacher talk to second language (L2) learners, in contexts where the classroom constituted the

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This case study tests a mathematical model for its ability to predict second language vocabulary gains achieved through reading. To overcome the problem of small word gains noted in ear-lier studies of incidental acquisition, the participant (an adult learner of Dutch) read a lengthy text and was tested on hundreds of words. To maximize opportunities for learning from context, an illustrated text (a ‘Lucky Luke’ comic book) was chosen for the reading treatment. Before reading the text and again after each of eight readings, the participant used a rating scale to assess his knowledge of words that occurred only once in the text. Growth rates established in one round of learning (a matrix) were used to predict growth in subsequent rounds. The participant's gains were found to match closely figures generated by the predictive matrix. As in previous studies, nouns proved to be the easiest to learn. Results also detail the need for multiple encounters in order for a word to be retained.

This feasibility study investigated how language instruction can be designed to help learners build on first language (L1) knowledge in acquiring a new language. It seems likely that learners will benefit from activities that draw their attention to features of their L1, but attempts to bridge the first and second language (L2) curricula often break down because the teachers typically work in isolation and are uncertain how to proceed. We attempted to address these problems by designing a series of cross-linguistic awareness (CLA) activities to be implemented on a trial basis with 48 young francophone learners of English (age 9—10 years) at a school in Montreal, Quebec. We observed language instruction in their French (L1) classes and identified features and themes that lent themselves to reinvestment in their English (L2) classes. Then 11 CLA teaching packages were developed and piloted with in an intensive year-long English as a second language (ESL) program. Classroom observations, interviews with both L1 and L2 teachers, and learner journal responses indicated that the activities were well received and that CLA instruction can usefully address a wide variety of linguistic features. Problems highlighted by the study are discussed; we also outline new research that will explore whether this promising experimental pedagogy leads to distinct language learning benefits.

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In previous publications, the authors reported on the English skills of students who had learned ESL in an experimental comprehension-based program. The performance of grade 4 and 5 students with two or three years of reading and listening was compared to that of students with three years of audio-lingual instruction. On most measures, the students in the comprehension-based program performed as well as or better than the comparison group (Lightbown 1992a; Lightbown & Halter, 1989). In the present paper, the authors report on a follow-up study carried out when students were in grade 8. After six years of an essentially comprehension-based program in ESL, they performed as well as comparison groups of students on measures of comprehension and some measures of oral production but not on measures of written production. This paper includes a description of some particular gaps in the written language of students in the comprehension-based program, includes a follow-up study with secondary school students who had been involved in an experimental program for learning English as a second language (ESL) in primary school, and concludes with a discussion of the need for pedagogical guidance for the development of writing skills.

currently sits on the editorial board of Language Testing. His personal website (www.norbertschmitt.co.uk) gives much more information about his research, and also provides a wealth of vocabulary resources for research and teaching. AbstractThere is current research consensus that L2 learners are able to adequately comprehend general English written texts if they know 98% of the words that occur in the materials.This important finding prompts an important question: How much English vocabulary do ESL learners need to know to achieve this crucial level of known-word coverage? A landmark paper by Nation (2006) provides a rather daunting answer. His exploration of the 98% figure with a variety of spoken and written corpora showed that knowledge of around 8,000-9,000 word families is needed for reading and 6,000-7,000 for listening. But is this the definitive picture? A recent study by van Zeeland and & Schmitt (2012) suggests that 95% coverage may be sufficient for listening comprehension, and that this can be reached with the much more manageable figure of 2,000-3,000 word families. Getting these figures right for a variety of text modalities, genres and conditions of reading and listening is essential. Teachers and learners need to be able to set goals, and as Cobb's study of learning opportunities (2007) has shown, coverage percentages and their associated vocabulary knowledge requirements have important implications for the acquisition of new word knowledge through exposure to comprehensible L2 input.