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In classrooms, teachers play a fundamental role in managing students' participation. As part of their classroom interactional competence to maximize interactional space for students' learning, teachers use multimodal resources to orchestrate turn-taking, allocate the next speaker, and manage repair sequences. However, little is known about how teachers employ these resources to engage learners in delegated peer repair, that is, repair sequences initiated by a student and solved by another classmate. Adopting a multimodal conversation analysis approach, this study aims to investigate how Spanish-as-a-foreign-language teachers multimodally manage delegated peer repair in whole-group interaction by increasing interactional space to promote students' participation. The findings show that teachers often resort to embodied resources such as gaze, gestures (pointing), and hand and body movements (stepping backward) to engage students in delegated peer repair, leading to increased student participation and autonomy. We end with some reflections on the relevance of the adopted methodology for better understanding how teachers employ multimodal resources to create interactional space and engage students in delegated peer repair, thus promoting learners' interactional competence in the foreign language. It also suggests some potential implications for teachers' professional development.

As emotions research in the field of second language acquisition continues to evolve, it is equally important to explore the impact of social--emotional variables that are specifically relevant to heritage language (HL) contexts. Anchoring on foundations in critical heritage language education (HLE), this study examines the discomforts of the HL classroom from a diverse heritage speaker (HS) perspective. Additionally, comforts that support the HL classroom as a safe space for emotional security and well-being for HSs across HLs are explored. Examining the HL classroom from the perspective of HL practices and knowledge systems, this study ultimately aims to: (a) outline the emotional complexity of HL pedagogical spaces, and (b) provide concrete and meaningful recommendations for supporting HS well-being and HL development from a transformative positive psychology lens. Data for the current qualitative study were provided through two separate methodologies. First, 64 HSs of Spanish responded to a qualitative questionnaire probing the emotional reactions and memories instigated by authentic HL classroom reading material on sensitive topics of racism, bilingualism, and immigration. The themes identified in written narrative data through an inductive thematic approach were then used as a foundation for semistructured interviews with language learners (n = 6) and educators (n = 8) from eight different HL backgrounds. Findings revealed feelings of comfort and discomfort, and even trauma and healing, in HLE spaces rooted in (a) language learning experiences, (b) social memories of (dis)comfort, and (c) intergenerational histories. Together, the data suggest how the HL classroom can act both as a trigger of social injustice, linguistic insecurity, and family conflict and, at the same time, as a space instigating affective reactions associated with social rebellion, linguistic confidence, intergenerational healing, and emotional refuge. Specific pedagogical recommendations are made to equip educators with a concrete toolkit for the HL classroom.

Although current approaches to second language (L2) pronunciation underscore that instruction should concentrate on pronunciation features that help learners be more intelligible (and not necessarily more native like), there is little empirical evidence as to what those features are, especially in languages other than English. To address this gap, this exploratory study examined phonetic predictors of listener-based dimensions--namely, intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent--in L2 Spanish speech. Samples were taken from 42 Spanish learners of varying proficiency while performing a picture description task, rated for global measures by 80 native Spanish listeners, coded for phonemic errors, and analyzed phonetically for pronunciation features that previous research has reported as challenging for English-speaking learners. Mixed-effects models were fit to the data to examine relationships between the phonetic features and the listener-based dimensions. Results revealed that rising intonation and diphthongization of word-final /o/ predicted intelligibility, rising intonation predicted comprehensibility, and a variety of features were associated with foreign accent. Overall, results confirmed that non-target-like production of L2 pronunciation, including areas known to be challenging for Spanish learners, does not necessarily lead to intelligibility and comprehensibility issues. Based on these findings, we make recommendations regarding what features should be prioritized in L2 pronunciation instruction.

The awarding organizations that create and administer high-stakes assessments for beginner-to-low-intermediate 16-year-old learners of French, German, and Spanish in England provide optional topic-driven word lists as guides for teachers and textbook writers. Given that these lists are developed by the awarding organizations, they exert a powerful washback effect on teaching and learning. However, we do not know how much of these lists have actually been used in exams. We therefore analyzed the extent to which these lists have been used when developing the General Certificate of Secondary Education listening and reading exams, a corpus totaling 116,647 words. One key finding showed that approximately half of the awarding organizations' lists had never been used in any of the exams to date. Given recent changes to curriculum policy, we also investigated how word list type--frequency-informed versus the awarding organizations' topic-driven lists--affected lexical coverage of the exams. Overall, our findings suggested that using the topic-driven lists was likely to be a suboptimal use of lesson time, as they did not provide learners with enough words to understand any given text with ease. Frequency-informed word lists, however, seemed to better prepare learners for the exams.

This study compares the effects of distributed versus massed corrective feedback (CF) on Spanish differential object marking (DOM). Forty-eight Spanish learners completed three communicative tasks with a researcher on three consecutive days, one task per day. Partial recasts were used to reformulate DOM errors. The distributed group (n = 16) received feedback in all three tasks. The massed group (n = 16) received feedback in the last task. The control group (n = 16) received no feedback. The total amount of CF provided to the two CF groups was controlled. Learners completed oral production and grammaticality judgment pre, post, and delayed posttests. Results showed that the massed group scored significantly higher than the control group across test types and times. However, the distributed group scored significantly higher than the control group only on the immediate and delayed oral production tests. We argue that the temporal contiguity, intensity, and consistency of feedback instances in the massed condition might be responsible for the relative superiority of the massed CF.

Although most children learn to communicate in their first language (L1), there is normal and expected variation in their rate of acquisition across all components of the language system. Until recently, most second language acquisition and second language (L2) researchers have assumed that individual differences (IDs) in L1 acquisition are small and irrelevant to IDs in L2 acquisition. However, growing evidence has found strong relationships between IDs in L1 attainment and ultimate L2 achievement. In this longitudinal study, US secondary students were administered measures of L1 written and oral achievement, L1 cognitive processing, and L2 aptitude, then followed over 3 years of Spanish instruction and administered standardized measures of L2 literacy and oral proficiency at the end of each year. Hierarchical regressions followed by regression commonality analysis showed that IDs in L1 achievement alone (reading, writing, vocabulary, and print exposure) accounted for substantial unique variance in L2 reading, writing, listening comprehension, and oral proficiency, while L2 aptitude accounted for additional unique variance at the end of each year. A new finding showed that variance accounted for by L1 skills increased from first to second to third year. Results lend additional support to the conclusion of strong L1-L2 relationships between IDs in L1 attainment and IDs in L2 achievement.

Drawing on positioning theory and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of mind, this study analyzes the discursive processes through which expert and novice positions are negotiated in heritage-second language (HL-L2) learner interaction. It examines how positioning practices shape collaboration between HL and L2 learners, determining what types of learning opportunities are created and for whom. Data was collected in a high-intermediate Spanish language class with 8 HL and 10 L2 learners. As part of their regular course activities, learners completed four collaborative writing tasks in mixed dyads. Three HL-L2 interactions were selected as case studies. The combined analysis of discursive positioning, patterns of interaction, and language-related episodes showed how expert positions, often assigned to HL learners due to their heritage speaker status, constrain these learners' access to the linguistic feedback and help needed for HL development. When pre-established conceptions of linguistic expertise are challenged and HL learners are positioned as language learners, with knowledge to gain, and their L2 partners as equal peers, with knowledge to share, opportunities for HL development expand. The article discusses the research and pedagogical implications of these findings.

To respond to recent calls for examining oral fluency from a broader social and communicative perspective, the current study aimed at investigating the effects of task communicative function on second language (L2) and first language (L1) speakers' fluency. Designing tasks that represent three different communicative functions (congratulations, bad news, and complaint), we collected data from 40 Spanish L2 learners of English, 20 L1 English speakers, and 20 L1 Spanish speakers. The data were analysed for a range of measures of speed, composite, breakdown, and repair fluency. Results of the statistical analyses (descriptive, Multivariance Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and two-way mixed Analysis of Variance (ANOVAs)) suggested that task communicative function had an impact on the speakers' performance, with bad news eliciting the slowest speech and most mid-clause pauses, and complaint the fastest with fewest end-clause pauses. Significant differences were observed across the tasks for speech rate and end-clause pauses in the L1 English group, but the results were nonsignificant for task effects in the L1 Spanish and L2 English groups. The three language groups' fluency was statistically different, highlighting (a) cross-linguistic differences between L1 Spanish and L1 English speakers and (b) differences between L1 and L2 English speakers.

This study investigated the researcher-teacher interface issue by exploring second language (L2) teachers' experiences of being involved in a large instructed second language acquisition empirical study aimed at curricular changes. The study addressed two goals. First, by involving the entire teaching staff at all levels of the multisection language teaching program in the administration of the empirical study, it examined the interface at the individual and the professional level. Second, by involving the teachers in every aspect of the study, it investigated the interface at the curricular level. Participants were 27 L2 teachers of Spanish at a private research university in the United States comprising graduate students of all disciplines and full-time and adjunct faculty. The interface data were obtained via a survey with questions related to teachers' academic backgrounds, pedagogical beliefs, experiences with academic journals, beliefs regarding the present study, overall experience, and their involvement in the research project. Two teachers also participated in in-depth personal reflections. The results showed that the active participation by the teachers raised their level of awareness of the researcher-teacher and research-curriculum interfaces and also increased their overall personal and professional development as informed teachers who employ theoretically driven and empirically supported activities in their lesson plans.

This study examined the relationship between lexical coverage (i.e., the percentage of known word tokens in a text) and second language (L2) reading comprehension. Several studies have suggested that adequate comprehension occurs between 95% and 98% coverage, but no study has investigated beginning-level learners reading under the conditions of extensive reading. Therefore, the present study recruited 50 native English-speaking learners enrolled in a second-semester Spanish course. Learners chose between 1 of 2 interesting, graded texts and read for general understanding. A yes-no vocabulary test was used to measure knowledge of all the words in the texts, and comprehension of the 10 main events was assessed with cued written recall and multiple-choice tests. Additionally, to begin to understand how coverage relates to different types of comprehension, a literal and an inferential question was asked of each main event. The results indicated that (a) the relationship between lexical coverage and comprehension was moderate to strong, (b) lexical coverage was more associated with literal comprehension, and (c) 98% coverage would predict the productive recall of 8 of the 10 main events. The findings support the importance of having texts written at the lexical level of beginning L2 learners when engaging in extensive reading.

This study investigated to what extent and how novice second-language (L2) Spanish learners use the cognitive linguistics-informed concept of boundedness to support their development of aspect--namely, the Spanish preterite and imperfect. The concept was presented within the framework of concept-based instruction (CBI) as part of a regular, semester-long U.S. college Spanish course for true beginners (N = 16). The sociocultural approach of CBI has been found to be effective for other complex L2 phenomena with more advanced learners, but the usefulness of the concept of boundedness for novice learners was untested. Definition, comprehension, verbalization, and performance data were triangulated to measure instructional effectiveness. Results suggest that the concept-based instructional approach using the concept of boundedness supported students' understanding of aspect, evidenced by multiple measures of conceptual development, as well as their accuracy in using aspect to create personal narratives.

Evidence suggests that short-term study abroad experiences can help advance various dimensions of second language (L2) learners' linguistic competence. However, the extent to which gains following a brief sojourn are durable and maintained after immersion remains an open question. The present study examined both the immediate and sustained learning outcomes following a short-term study abroad program by considering L2 Spanish learners' (a) linguistic gains in global proficiency, oral production, and L2 knowledge, and (b) nonlinguistic gains in perceived psychobehavioral flexibility, a trait that remains under-researched despite its broad relevance to study abroad contexts. Data were collected at the onset and end of a summer study abroad program in Spain, as well as 5 weeks post-sojourn, after students' reimmersion in the first language environment. Mixed-effects models revealed that gains in global proficiency and some aspects of oral production and L2 knowledge, as well as increases in perceived psychobehavioral flexibility, were noticeable at the end of the program and were maintained for several weeks post-sojourn in the absence of further L2 instruction. Findings provide a first look into the potential of short-term study abroad for promoting durable developmental changes across linguistic and nonlinguistic domains.

The question of cognition in second language (L2) acquisition later in life is of importance inasmuch as L2 learning is largely mediated by domain-general cognitive capacities. While a number of these capacities have been shown to decline with age, individual differences in cognition increase over the lifespan. This microdevelopment study investigates the L2 trajectories of 28 older German-speaking adults (age 64+) who participated in a combined computer-assisted and classroom-instructed 7-month Spanish training for beginners. We made use of generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to quantify linear and nonlinear learner trajectories as well as any predictors thereof. Participants were assessed on a range of behavioral, L2, socioaffective, and background variables. We found a significant (linear and nonlinear) increase across all measures of L2 proficiency. Between-subject cognitive, socioaffective, and background variables significantly predicted the overall level of L2 proficiency as well as developmental patterns over time. Daily variances in cognitive performance and socioaffect had little impact on fluctuations in L2 performance. Findings are discussed against the backdrop of complex dynamic systems theory and highlight the necessity for dense longitudinal research designs to capture nonlinearity in third-age L2 learning.

How multilinguals reflect on and interpret their experiences abroad as they acquire an additional language has been undertheorized in study abroad research. Multilinguals navigate multiple identities, cross linguistic and social boundaries, and employ an array of resources to make meaning--that is, they engage in translingual practice. This article presents the case of Terry--a Vietnamese-American learner of Spanish--during a 13-week stay in Guatemala as she navigates and reflects on her sense of self. Employing translingual practice and symbolic competence as theoretical frameworks, this study examines how Terry drew on her cultural and linguistic background to understand her experiences abroad and in turn, how an abroad experience encouraged critical self-reflection. Through a thematic analysis of interviews, course assignments, and audio-recorded classroom observations, the findings illustrate how an abroad curriculum that emphasized structured critical reflection and local engagement encouraged Terry's development of critical translingual competence; an awareness of the symbolic significance of meaning-making resources across contexts; and the inextricable connections among identity, language, and culture.

Dual language immersion (DLI) as an alternative model to monolingual English-medium education has continued to expand rapidly over the past decade. As this model continues to grow across the United States, stakeholders look to research to demonstrate sustainability and scalability of dual language programs. Drawing on 224 schools, the statewide study reported in this article investigated whether students' growth in a non-English DLI partner language sustained into the secondary level, to what degree students met performance benchmarks for these partner languages, and whether targeted outcomes were attained during program expansion. The longitudinal analysis of assessment data shows that middle school students performed at Intermediate Mid to High levels on the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency scale in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and that a segment of students raised their performance levels from 8th to 9th grade. Furthermore, a considerable portion of DLI students in French and Spanish dual language programs reached the Advanced level in 9th grade. Finally, 3rd- and 4th-grade data show that targeted performance outcomes held from one testing year to another, 4 years later, and after a substantial increase in enrollments. The article concludes with a discussion of curricular and policy implications.

As second language (L2) research adapts to the dynamics of multimodal instruction, researchers are exploring the role of captioning and textual enhancement (TE) on learner development. The present experiment assesses the differential effects of textually enhanced captions on learners' elicited imitation of L2 Spanish grammar. Twenty-eight English-speaking intermediate L2 Spanish learners saw 3 videos that focused on "gustar"-type verbs, the preterite--imperfect contrast, or the subjunctive. Each video included 3 conditions: sentences without captions (NC); sentences with target verbs highlighted entirely (TE1); or sentences with highlighting on inflectional morphemes (TE2). Using a novel written elicited imitation task, we uncovered consistent positive effects of both TE conditions compared to NC, with an added advantage of TE2 for the subjunctive. The findings demonstrate that (a) TE with captions contributes to increased L2 accuracy, (b) the elicited imitation of some grammatical structures is more conducive to enhancement than others, and (c) there is space for future investigation into the factors that mediate the effectiveness of multimodal interventions.

The simple view of reading (SVR) model proposes that reading comprehension is the product of cognitive domain skills, word decoding, and oral language (linguistic) comprehension, and that decoding and language comprehension make separate, independent contributions to reading comprehension. The SVR has been supported in both first (L1) and second language (L2) reading research as a viable model to explain more and less successful reading acquisition and to recommend instructional intervention. This article reviews L1 and L2 reading research that supports the SVR and explains how the model can be used to assess foreign language (FL) reading skills, identify strong and weak FL readers, and identify FL readers' strengths and weaknesses. Specific examples of standardized cognitive and linguistic measures for English and Spanish used to assess word decoding and language comprehension skills are cited. Implications of the SVR model for assessment and pedagogy are discussed.

While an elicited imitation test (EIT) has been widely used as a measure of oral proficiency in second language acquisition (SLA) research, it is still unclear the extent to which memory capacity impacts EIT performance. In light of this gap, the present study sought to clarify the nature of elicited imitation by examining the relative contributions of language ability and phonological short-term memory (PSTM) to EIT performance. Seventy-eight second language (L2) learners of Spanish, who were grouped into 3 Spanish experience levels, took a Spanish EIT, an L2 oral narrative task, and a nonword repetition (NWR) task in their first language. Results demonstrated that learners' EIT performance was primarily predicted by complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) measures extracted from the oral narrative task rather than NWR scores, which served as an index for PSTM capacity. Furthermore, the present study provided suggestive evidence that PSTM capacity may differentially mediate EIT performance depending on the extent of learners' proficiency in and experience with Spanish. While facilitative effects for PSTM capacity were observed for less experienced learners, no effects were found for more experienced learners.

This study uses a Q methodology to track the changing motivational profiles of 15 Chinese university students simultaneously engaged in second-language (L2) English and third-language (L3) Spanish learning over 1.5 years. Guided by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), the study aims to investigate the initial trigger that propelled the Chinese learners to engage in intensive L3 learning and to chart the different routes of multilingual self-development. Over the 1.5 years, Q sort tasks were administered at 3 time points, and retrospective interviews elicited data to complement the Q sort analysis. A nonspecific multilingual posture was found to be the initial trigger for voluntary investment in intensive L3 learning. A motivational profile with a dominating translingual and transcultural orientation develops into either more constitutive ideal multilingual selves or more language-specific integrative ideal selves, continuously exerting motivational forces. Another profile, which has a dominating instrumental orientation, generates diminishing motivational forces. We argue that different aspects of multilingual learning motivation may be operating in parallel through correlative associations in the holistic, dynamic, and relational system of multilingual self. The article concludes by discussing pedagogical implications for learning and teaching multiple foreign languages for university students.

This study examined linguistic development among both intermediate and advanced college-level second language (L2) learners during short-term study abroad summer programs in Spain. Participants completed a measure of overall proficiency, as well as assessments of receptive grammatical (morphosyntactic) and lexical (semantic) abilities at the beginning and end of their programs. They also reported their use of and exposure to the target language on a weekly basis while abroad. Analyses explored (a) whether learners in each group made gains in these receptive abilities, and (b) to what extent contact with the L2 and/or initial proficiency accounted for variability in linguistic development across all learners. Results indicated that learners in both groups evidenced significant linguistic gains, in both morphosyntactic and lexical domains for the intermediate-level learners, and in the lexical domain for the advanced learners. In analyses across all learners, L2 contact did not account for variability in either morphosyntactic or lexical development, whereas higher initial proficiency facilitated some morphosyntactic and lexical development. Results suggest that learners at both intermediate and advanced levels can experience linguistic gains during short-term study abroad, and that initial proficiency plays a limited role in explaining variability in gains among these learners.

This study explored the influence of speech rate (normal vs. fast), sentence length (short vs. long), and second language (L2) oral proficiency on listening comprehension in L2 Spanish. Thirty-one native English-speaking learners enrolled in upper-level Spanish courses were aurally exposed to 8 sentences of each type of speed--length matrix, for a total of 32 sentences in Spanish. Listeners' comprehension was measured through native language recall following each sentence. Generalized estimating equations revealed that sentence length and oral proficiency were both significant predictors of listening comprehension in L2 Spanish, as were speed x oral proficiency and length x oral proficiency interactions. While lengthier utterances decreased comprehension, the extent of their influence was impacted by L2 oral proficiency, as measured by a standardized test. High oral proficiency helped to combat the negative effect of lengthier utterances. Moreover, accelerated speech degraded listening comprehension for higher proficiency participants only--not for their lower proficiency counterparts due to the latter's low comprehension scores at both normal and fast rates of sentence delivery. The results are discussed in light of previous empirical studies on listening ability. The current study contributes to the recent exploration of the variables involved in the complex process of L2 listening comprehension, discusses implications for pedagogy and the creation of listening materials, and suggests avenues for future research.

The present study investigates to what extent first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) speakers use lexical futures, whether such forms provide evidence of development, and whether these forms are constrained differently from the present indicative (PI) according to linguistic predictors. It uses a combined approach through its concept-oriented consideration of an underreported form and analysis of the behavior of individual learners, along with applying variationist methods to determine whether independent linguistic predictors differentiate between lexical futures and a formally similar structure (i.e., the PI). The study includes 120 English-speaking learners of Spanish from 5 course levels and 20 native speakers (NSs) of Spanish. Participants completed an oral production task, in which they responded to 8 personal prompts. Results indicate that NSs used lexical futures robustly and that part of the development associated with the acquisition of future-time expression included increases in the overall rates of lexical future use and the inventory of lexical future periphrases. Mixed-effects models revealed that from the earliest level lexical futures could be differentiated from the PI as predicted by independent variables, and that independent variables patterned in a more target-like way as course level increased.

The present study investigated a group of cognitive individual differences considered advantageous in second language learning and their role in language learning under implicit and explicit feedback conditions using both language awareness and language development measures. The study further investigated whether different types of awareness are related to language development. One hundred and twelve intermediate English learners of Spanish at a U.S. university were administered tests from 2 language aptitude test batteries (Hi-LAB and LLAMA) and were randomly assigned to an implicit feedback (recast), explicit feedback (explicit correction), or control group. The 2 feedback groups received feedback on the target linguistic form (i.e., Spanish noun-adjective gender agreement) according to their group assignment in 2 treatment sessions. Learners' knowledge of the linguistic target was measured using a grammaticality judgment test and an oral production task immediately before and after the treatment. Learners' ability to notice the corrective function and linguistic target of the feedback was measured by means of a posttask debriefing questionnaire. Implicit sequence learning ability and error awareness predicted the implicit group's pretest-posttest improvement, whereas phonological short-term memory predicted the explicit group's pretest-posttest improvement. Phonemic coding ability, attention control, and processing speed further predicted learners' awareness in the implicit feedback group.

A unique anxiety for foreign language (L2) learning has been hypothesized to explain students' problems with language learning. However, L2 anxiety instruments have been challenged on the grounds that they reflect students' language learning ability and/or perceptions of their language learning skills. In this study, 266 U.S. high school students were administered measures of first language (L1) skills, L2 aptitude, and L2 achievement and followed through 2-3 years of Spanish courses. In 1st-year Spanish, they were administered the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS), divided into 3 anxiety groups, and compared on the L1 and L2 measures. Findings showed that the Low Anxiety group scored significantly higher than the High Anxiety group on all L1 and L2 measures, and significantly higher than the Average Anxiety group on most L1 and L2 measures at the end of 1st- and 2nd-year Spanish. Students who completed 3rd-year Spanish displayed either low or average anxiety on the FLRAS. Results revealed negative correlations between the FLRAS and all L1 and L2 measures. Correlations between the FLRAS and the L2 achievement measures increased over time. Findings show that the FLRAS is unlikely to be measuring anxiety for language learning but more likely to be a proxy for students' levels of L1 skill, L2 aptitude, and L2 achievement.

The aim of this article is to show that the use of Spanish grammatical aspect is biased by inherent aspect depending on the learner's first language (L1). It considers both the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (LAH; Andersen, 1986, and his followers) and the L1 Transfer Hypothesis (Izquierdo & Collins, 2008; McManus, 2015), and it compares the use of Spanish past tenses by L1 Dutch and L1 English learners at first stages of acquisition. Differences in grammatical aspect in both L1 and the second language (L2) predict that learners will have difficulties acquiring grammatical differences such as the contrast between the Preterit and the Imperfect. Recent studies claim that not all learners are biased by the traditional Vendlerian lexical aspect typology (Domínguez et al., 2013; González, 2013), which may mean that refinement of the LAH is necessary. For our study, L1 English and Dutch learners of Spanish performed the same written production task, which involved the retelling of a story after watching a muted video. The results, based on an approximate binomial distribution analysis, show that the use of both the Preterit and the Imperfect by English-speaking learners is biased by dynamicity contrasts. Furthermore, their overuse of Preterit to complete the written task shows L1 transfer from the English past tense, which can be uttered in perfective and imperfective contexts. On the other hand, the results of L1 Dutch speakers show that the use of Spanish grammatical aspect is biased by the terminative-durative classification, and that they prefer the Present Perfect in perfective contexts, also showing L1 transfer.

This study explored teachers' beliefs about pronunciation instruction in Spanish as a second language (L2). An online survey was used to collect data from 100 participants, grouped into 4 categories based on their previous training in principles and methods of pronunciation instruction. This article reports results from 15 survey items which covered participants' beliefs regarding 6 major themes: the importance of pronunciation, how pronunciation develops, when to teach it, what to teach, how to teach, and who can teach. Although the results revealed several areas where more methods-related coursework meant greater alignment between Spanish teachers' beliefs and findings of L2 pronunciation research, there were other topics on which instructors with more training were likely to express beliefs contrasting with the state of the art. For instance, respondents with more coursework tended to accord more value to pronunciation instruction, to set more pronunciation-related goals for language instruction, and to reject delaying a focus on pronunciation. Unexpectedly, however, some seemed to uphold the native speaker model, suggesting that teacher training and professional development programs may need to emphasize research-informed practices and the importance of pedagogical expertise over nativelike pronunciation.

Listening is widely regarded as an important skill that is difficult and necessary to teach in L2 classrooms. Listening requires both top-down and bottom-up processing, yet pedagogical techniques for the latter are often lacking. This study explores the efficacy of pronunciation instruction (PI) for improving learners' bottom-up processing. The study recruited 116 relatively novice learners of Spanish as a foreign language and provided the experimental groups with brief lessons in PI emphasizing segmental or suprasegmental features followed by production-focused or perception-focused practice. Learners' bottom-up processing skill was assessed with a sentence-level dictation task. Learners given PI on suprasegmental features followed by perception-focused practice found target language speech to be more intelligible than controls, indicating that they had improved their bottom-up processing. However, learners given PI on segmental features followed by production-focused practice found target language speech to be more comprehensible. The results indicate that PI is a worthwhile intervention for reasons that go beyond pronunciation, even when instructional time is limited, and that a range of features and practice types should be included in PI to improve listening skills.

This study examined relationships between language learning motivation and the longitudinal development of second language (L2) pronunciation. Twenty-six English-speaking learners of Spanish recorded a simplified picture description task 5 times over a year-long period spanning their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters of Spanish language instruction. Learners also completed a quantitative motivation survey based on the L2 Motivational Self System and an open-ended questionnaire on their language learning beliefs once per semester, yielding 3 measurements. Eighteen native Spanish listeners rated the learners' clips for comprehensibility and accentedness. Although mixed modeling of the motivation data revealed a slightly negative trajectory for motivational subcomponents, qualitative analyses of individual patterns indicated that learners were beginning to formulate and evaluate language learning goals that were set into a larger framework of personal and professional objectives. Mixed effects models of the pronunciation data demonstrated that both comprehensibility and accentedness improved over time. When the quantitative motivation measures were integrated into the modeling process as time-varying fixed effects, effort was significantly related to accentedness, which suggests that effort may have played an increasingly important role in shaping learners' pronunciation over time.

This study investigated second language fluency development over a nearly 2-year period which included an academic year abroad and the year immediately following the participants' return to their home university. Data from 24 L1 English learners of Spanish were collected 6 times: once before, 3 times during, and 2 times after a 9-month stay abroad. Participants were recorded orally retelling a picture-based narrative, and data were coded for 9 measures of utterance fluency. Results indicated different developmental trends: Gains in speed fluency appeared quickly and were maintained after the return from study abroad, whereas gains in breakdown fluency often took longer and were more sensitive to attrition after returning home. There were no changes over time in repair fluency. These results appear to indicate that some fluency improvements are more robust and less likely to be affected by the change in context (study abroad vs. home country). The findings fill a gap in our understanding of the relationship between oral fluency development and second language speech production processes, and have implications for study abroad researchers as well as post-study abroad instruction.

We take a multidimensional perspective on the development of second language (L2) speaking ability and examine how changes in the underlying cognitive variables of linguistic knowledge and processing speed interact with complexity, fluency, and accuracy over the course of a 3-month Spanish study abroad session. Study abroad provides a unique learning context for evaluating changes in the underlying dimensions of L2 speaking because learners are fully immersed in the target language and have ample opportunity to implement, practice, and integrate newly gained skills. Participants were 39 native English speakers acquiring Spanish in Argentina. Results show that participants experienced significant gains across complexity, fluency, and accuracy. However, these gains were not evenly distributed across all dimensions or across all learners. Learners with higher levels of L2 linguistic knowledge and faster L2 processing speed prior to study abroad experienced greater gains in accuracy and syntactic and lexical complexity during study abroad.

The present study explores the independent and interactive effects of task complexity and task modality on linguistic dimensions of second language (L2) performance and investigates how these effects are modulated by individual differences in working memory capacity. Thirty-two intermediate learners of L2 Spanish completed less and more complex versions of the same type of argumentative task in the speaking and writing modalities. Perceived complexity questionnaires were administered as measures of cognitive load to both L2 learners and native speakers to independently validate task complexity manipulations. Task performance was analyzed in terms of general (complexity and accuracy) as well as task-relevant (conjunctions) linguistic measures. Quantitative analyses revealed that task modality played a larger role than task complexity in inducing improved linguistic performance during task-based work: Speaking tasks brought about more syntactically complex output while writing tasks favored more lexically complex and more accurate language. In addition, relationships of working memory capacity with various linguistic measures were attested, but only when the cognitive complexity of tasks was enhanced.

This study draws on conceptual and methodological insights afforded within a dynamic systems perspective to explore shifting interrelationships between cognitive capacity and motivational resources in instructed adult second language (L2) learners of Spanish at increasing proficiency. Relationships that emerged showed both stability and fluctuation over a semester of instruction and varied by learners' stage of development. Findings support previous calls to improve upon mainstream approaches to conceptualizing and investigating learner individual differences (IDs) by adopting a holistic, non modular view of the L2 developmental system in general and learner IDs in particular (e.g., Dörnyei, 2009b, 2010a]; Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Larsen-Freeman, 1997, 2001, 2015). To further align with DST principles (see Hiver & Al-Hoorie, 2016), future studies should endeavor to carry out longitudinal case studies with multiple data points in order to reveal intra-individual complexity in the group-level patterns seen here.

Examining speech samples from 75 American university students learning 1 of 3 languages (Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish), this article reports on a study of second language (L2) learners' oral fluency development and its relationship with their gains in holistic proficiency ratings during a semester abroad. In study abroad research, there is a need for large-scale studies that systematically investigate learners' L2 development (Kinginger, 2009; Rees & Klapper, 2008). To address this need, the project used a quantitative design involving learners of 3 languages from multiple cohorts and diverse sending and destination institutions. Results from an analysis of 600 speech samples from 150 pretest and posttest Simulated Oral Proficiency Interviews (SOPIs) showed significant increases in speech rate as well as differences between the 3 language groups. The study also investigated the relationship between holistic oral proficiency ratings and fine-tuned fluency measures and found some limited relationships between them. These findings can provide methodological suggestions for researchers interested in L2 fluency development among study abroad students and implications for foreign language educators and policy makers to promote study abroad and language learning.

Peer tutoring is viewed as a valuable component of additional language learning due to the presence of a more knowledgeable interlocutor. Yet researchers and language program directors alike often ignore the linguistic and cultural differences that peer tutors possess, instead categorizing them homogeneously as "experts" or "native speakers." In this article, I use a case study to closely examine how knowledge is negotiated in one peer tutoring cohort. Grounding my analysis in ethnomethodological and linguistic anthropological notions of epistemics and expertise, I show how one peer tutor drew from various embodied, artifactual, and historical resources in order to negotiate lexical gaps and position herself as an expert in the target language. At the same time, I demonstrate how essentialist ideologies help construct a language expert by highlighting the learners' alignments to the tutor's epistemic stance as knower, even when faced with conflicting information. These findings question the ways knowledge and expertise are traditionally perceived in peer tutoring and other additional language learning contexts, emphasize the need for training peer tutors in cooperative learning methods and articulating their knowledge with that from the classroom setting, and highlight the complex ideologies that surround the 'right to know' a target language.

This article explores the implementation of dynamic assessment (DA) in an elementary school foreign language classroom by considering its theoretical basis and its applicability to second language (L2) teaching, learning, and development. In existing applications of L2 classroom DA, errors serve as a window into learners' instructional needs and provide opportunities for the teacher to mediate, prompting learners to reformulate their utterance. The investigation presented here draws on data from a combination of classroom DA and small-group work in a unit focused on Spanish interrogatives. Extending earlier studies (Davin, 2013; Davin & Donato, 2013), it critically evaluates the extent to which the teacher's DA records, the heart of DA assessment, provide sufficiently robust evidence for central claims in DA for the dynamic link between assessment and teaching in order to advance learner development. It does so by contextualizing the teacher's record with transcripts from small-group work that alternated with DA, and with a microgenetic analysis of two learners across both DA and small-group work. It concludes that whole classroom applications of DA will require considerable expertise on the part of teachers that would have to become part of teacher education programs. Equally importantly, it will benefit from being anchored in an explicitly meaning-oriented theory of language.

Flipped or inverted classroom (IC) models are promising for foreign language instruction in that they appear to promote well-regarded practices that bridge both sociocultural and cognitive theoretical frameworks, such as allowing for higher degrees of learner agency and facilitating deeper levels of processing. To date, the majority of work on IC models for language learning has been instructional rather than empirical in nature. By contrast, this study examined the impact of IC lessons on 14 intact third-semester Spanish classes (N = 213). Instructors were randomly assigned to either an IC or an in-class presentational (CP) condition for lessons and accompanying assignments on 2 uses of the Spanish pronoun "se." An attitudinal inventory indicated that learners in the IC condition rated their assignments significantly higher in terms of perceived comfort, enjoyment, and subsequent confidence in the material. However, regression analysis showed that ratings were stratified based upon several predictor variables. For measures of L2 knowledge, learners in the IC condition performed significantly better than those in the CP when identifying grammatical uses of the target structure on a grammaticality judgment test. No significant differences were found between the groups' performance on a rule description task or a chapter test. Implications for implementing IC models are discussed.

"The Modern Language Journal" has long been an important venue for the publication of research and reflection on the teaching and learning of foreign languages (FL) in classroom contexts. In this article, we offer a perspective on the contemporary FL classroom, informed by a descriptive survey of all studies that took place in FL classes that were published in "The Modern Language Journal" ("MLJ") between 2001 and 2014 inclusive (N = 97). This yielded a profile of FL classrooms in terms of geographical locations, languages being taught, the amount and distribution of instructional time, and the age and language backgrounds of the students. The findings revealed that FL environments benefiting from research investigations in the "MLJ" typically involve older learners in on-site (rather than virtual) classes that afford limited exposure to the FL, which was typically English (in non-English-speaking countries) and French, German, or Spanish (in English-speaking countries). We consider the implications of these findings for the study of FLs in the future and identify aspects of FL classrooms that merit greater research attention as the "MLJ" moves into its second century.

This study explores the teaching of second language (L2) Spanish sociopragmatics through concept-based pragmatics instruction (van Compernolle, 2014). The concepts of self-presentation, social distance, and power were the focus of a pedagogical enrichment program in 2 sections of a beginning-level Spanish class at a northeastern U.S. university. The concepts were illustrated by the Spanish second person pronoun system (i.e., "tú" vs. "usted"). The analysis centers on preenrichment and postenrichment performances on 3 tasks: (a) a language awareness survey, (b) an appropriateness judgment task, and (c) a written discourse completion task. Results show positive gains in conceptual sociopragmatic knowledge and the ability to apply this knowledge when making pragmalinguistic choices. However, morphosyntactic accuracy in performance appears to lag behind conceptual knowledge.

This article studies the use of support verb constructions (SVCs) in the written production of learners of Spanish. SVCs are lexical combinations whose content is similar to verbal predicates but is distributed between a verb and a noun, the noun being the carrier of the core lexical meaning of the predicate. Although there is considerable agreement on the importance of these constructions in the learning process, their use in the production of learners of Spanish has so far attracted little attention. This study examines the difficulties posed to learners by this construction by means of a qualitative analysis of the errors registered in 3 samples consisting of essays by learners with 3 different mother tongues (English, Swedish, and Japanese). It focuses on 3 types of error, 2 of which--the support verb choice and the determiner choice--seem to be especially problematic due to the unpredictability of the units involved. The third type--using an SVC instead of a more idiomatic 1-word verb--is regularly found only in the samples of the Japanese speakers, which suggests the influence of a particular mother tongue in its production.

While oral corrective feedback is a principal focus in second language acquisition research, most studies examine feedback once it has been provided. Investigating how instructors make in-class feedback decisions has not been thoroughly explored, despite the fact that classroom feedback occurs at the discretion of the individual language instructor and evidence from case studies that feedback provision varies greatly between instructors (recently reviewed in Lyster, Saito, & Sato, [Lyster, R., 2013]). This study investigates how 32 instructors make their moment-to-moment feedback decisions in response to learner errors during natural, university-level Spanish foreign language lessons. Each instructor had a 50-minute grammar-focused lesson videotaped and participated in a stimulated recall. Results reveal instructor in-class feedback decision making to be a systematic and ordered cognitive process: Instructors who reflect on learner errors report that contextual (e.g., error type), learner (e.g., perceived student ability), and instructor factors (e.g., research background) influenced their decision whether or not to provide feedback, as well what type(s) to provide, and when. Others report having automatized their feedback practices and not reflecting on learner errors. All instructors report that their individual characteristics, specifically their native language, teaching experience, and training in second language acquisition, mediate the corrective feedback they provide.

While research suggests that study abroad (SA) benefits second language (L2) oral fluency, its benefits for other domains are less clear, especially for shorterterm programs, which are becoming more common. Additionally, studies investigating the relationship between cognitive capacity and benefits of SA report inconsistent patterns. In light of these gaps, this study investigated whether a 5-week intensive language experience abroad benefits L2 lexical and grammatical development and whether development is related to learners' cognitive capacity. Twenty-six L1 English-advanced L2 Spanish participants in a SA program in Spain completed pre-/post-SA grammaticality judgment (GJT) and lexical decision tasks (LDT). On the GJT, results showed higher accuracy and decreasing reaction times (RTs); specifically, accuracy increased on word order and number agreement items but not on gender agreement. RTs did not decrease for any of the three targets individually. For the LDT, performance on nonwords, but not words, showed improvement while RTs for both words and nonwords decreased. Overall, these gains following short-term experience abroad were independent of variation in cognitive capacity. This study makes a unique contribution toward understanding the roles of L2 proficiency, context, and individual differences in morphosyntactic and lexical development.

Cross-linguistic research on motion events has shown that Spanish speakers and English speakers have different patterns of thinking for speaking about motion, both linguistically and gesturally (for a review, see Stam, 2010b). Spanish speakers express path linguistically with verbs, and their path gestures tend to occur with path verbs, whereas English speakers express path linguistically with satellites (adverbs or particles), and their path gestures tend to occur with satellite units. This article investigated whether a Spanish-speaking English language learner's thinking for speaking patterns about motion exhibited continuous linguistic and gestural change in her L1 (Spanish) and L2 (English). The results indicate that the learner's gestural expression of path changed in both her L1 and L2, and her gestural expression of manner changed in her L2. This change suggests that manner, a pattern acquired in childhood, may not be resistant to change after all (Slobin, 1996; Stam, 2010b). The results have implications for the teaching of second and foreign languages.

Heritage language (HL) speakers have received scholarly attention in recent years as an interdisciplinary research theme, but relatively less attention has been paid to their demographics. Existing studies of HL speakers' demographics often focus on young children in areas of high immigrant concentration (i.e., California, Florida, and New York); no study has systematically investigated cross-regional and chronological demographic patterns of adult HL speakers. From the perspective of HLs as a national resource, such demographic data on adult HL speakers are useful to gauge the availability of a bilingual workforce and determine structures needed to support and develop a bilingual U.S. population. Using the "Integrated Public User Microdata Series" (Ruggles & Sobek, 1997), which is based on data from the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey, this study makes geographical and chronological comparisons among groups of adult HL speakers from 1980 to 2010. The data show major differences in the demographics of adult HL speakers in different regions. The analyses also reveal differences by language, specifically between the adult HL speakers of Spanish and other languages. Implications of these patterns are discussed.

This cross-sectional study used assessments developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics to examine the oral proficiency of 218 K-8 English-proficient students in 4 Spanish immersion programs. Following a comprehensive review of assessment results for English-proficient immersion learners, the article reports findings from statistical analyses. Ratings of student proficiency were significantly higher between Kindergarten and Grade 2 and between Grades 2 and 5; however, no significant differences were found between Grades 5 and 8, lending empirical support to the plateau effect identified in earlier immersion studies. Furthermore, positive moderate to strong correlations were found between teacher ratings and ratings assigned by trained assessment administrators. The article discusses implications for assessment tools and practices, immersion program design, and pedagogy.

This article examines second language (L2) learner knowledge of English verb-argument constructions (VACs), for example, the "V 'against' n" construction. It investigates to what extent constructions underpin L2 learners' linguistic competence, how VAC mental representations in native speakers and learners differ, and whether there are observable effects of the learners' first language. Native speakers of English and advanced learners of 3 different first language backgrounds (Czech, German, Spanish) were asked to generate the first verb that came to mind to fill the gap in 20 sparse VAC frames like "she ____ against the…." The comparison of learner and native speaker verb responses highlights crosslinguistic transfer effects as well as effects of language typology that impact verb semantics (cf. Talmy, 1985). Our findings suggest that learners whose L1 is, like English, satellite-framed (here Czech and German) produce more target-like verbs than learners whose L1 is verb-framed (here Spanish).

Based on qualitative analysis of conversational interactions collected over the course of a Spanish language learner's academic year abroad, this article explores the development of interactional resources related to alignment activity in the learner's conversational participation. Alignment activity refers to the means interlocutors use to demonstrate their intersubjectivity. Alignment moves such as assessments, collaborative contributions, and collaborative completions index shared understanding, the ability to adopt the other's point of view, and the ability to speak in the other's voice. Analysis of the learner's alignment activity over the course of the year abroad reveals changes in participation that allowed the learner to play a more active role in the co-construction of communication as her time abroad progressed. The findings in this study contribute to the operationalization of the concept of interactional competence (IC) and to our understanding of its development over time. This study proposes the inclusion of alignment activity as another important grouping of interactional resources relevant to models of IC (He & Young, [He, A. W., 1998]; Young, [Young, R. F., 2008], [Young, R. F., 2011]).

Research has described the key role of formulaic language use in both written and spoken communication (Schmitt, 2004; Wray, 2002), as well as in relation to L2 learning (Ellis, Simpson--Vlach, & Maynard, 2008). Relatively few studies have examined related fixed and semi-fixed multi-word units (MWUs), which comprise fixed parts with the potential for flexible slots in L2 learners' language use over time. Building upon the corpus linguistic methodology of concgramming and usage-based linguistic research on a construction-based developmental sequence in language acquisition, this article describes learners' multi-word inventories through the analysis of a learner corpus of out-of-class instant messaging and blog use in a U.S. high school advanced placement Spanish language course. We examined this corpus using concgram analysis of phraseological tendencies to document related MWUs used in fixed and schematic fashion. Patterns in student language use are described in terms of meaningful permutations of constituency variation over time. Related patterns used by different learners are analyzed and discussed in light of methodological considerations in tracking second language use and the pedagogical implications of the concgramming approach to MWUs. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)

This study investigates caption-reading behavior by foreign language (L2) learners and, through eye-tracking methodology, explores the extent to which the relationship between the native and target language affects that behavior. Second-year (4th semester) English-speaking learners of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish watched 2 videos differing in content familiarity, each dubbed and captioned in the target language. Results indicated that time spent on captions differed significantly by language: Arabic learners spent more time on captions than learners of Spanish and Russian. A significant interaction between language and content familiarity occurred: Chinese learners spent less time on captions in the unfamiliar content video than the familiar, while others spent comparable times on each. Based on dual-processing and cognitive load theories, we posit that the Chinese learners experienced a split-attention effect when verbal processing was difficult and that, overall, captioning benefits during the 4th semester of language learning are constrained by L2 differences, including differences in script, vocabulary knowledge, concomitant L2 proficiency, and instructional methods. Results are triangulated with qualitative findings from interviews. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures, and 9 notes.)

This study investigates whether practice with computer-administered feedback in the absence of meaning-focused interaction can help second language learners notice the corrective intent of recasts and develop linguistic accuracy. A group of 218 beginning Anglophone learners of Spanish received 1 of 4 types of automated feedback (no feedback, utterance rejection, recasts, or enhanced recasts) in the written mode or the oral mode, in response to noun--adjective gender or number agreement errors. For both modalities, written and oral post-tests conducted up to 2 months after treatment revealed that recasts yielded more target-like production and learner repair than either no feedback or utterance rejection and that utterance rejection was in turn more effective than no feedback. Two factors were found to increase the effectiveness of computer-delivered recasts: oral, but not typographical, input enhancement (orally enhanced recasts were more beneficial than orally unenhanced and typographically enhanced recasts) and working memory (higher span learners were superior to lower span learners in all recast groups). We discuss the implications of our results for the area of error treatment as an instructional focus technique and suggest avenues for future research. (Contains 4 tables, 3 figures, and 4 notes.)

Researchers in second language socialization (SLS) often examine those interactions relating to a learner's integration within a target community. Kramsch and Whiteside (2008) noted the importance of "symbolic competence" in this integration. Symbolic competence, defined as the ability to access contextually relevant social and political histories in order to "play with various linguistic codes and the various spatial and temporal resonances of these codes" (p. 664), is viewed at least partially in interaction. The current article contains an analysis of how one individual performed his own orientations of symbolic competence--what I term "symbolic performance"--in the context of his community of practice. Through a close discourse analysis of a conversation between Alejandro, a native speaker of Spanish, and members of his Quichua-speaking community, I highlight how certain symbols and histories were performed in what was, on the surface, a lighthearted interaction. This analysis reveals how members of the target community resisted some aspects of Alejandro's performance and examines the implications of this resistance for Alejandro's socialization into the community. The findings of this study add to a new body of literature that operationalizes and problematizes the notion of symbolic competence in multilingual communities of practice and other SLS contexts. (Contains 1 figure and 3 notes.)