This study tests the theoretical predictions regarding effects of increasing task complexity (Robinson, 2001a, 2001b, 2007, 2010; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007) for second language (L2) pronunciation. Specifically, we examine whether more complex tasks (a) lead to greater incidence of pronunciation-focused language-related episodes (LREs) and (b) positively impact accuracy of phonetic form during task completion. Seventeen dyads of intermediate L2 Spanish learners completed simple (+few elements) and complex (-few elements) information-gap map tasks in which the pronunciation of Spanish vowels was made task essential through the inclusion of minimal pair street names (e.g., Calle Copa “Copa Street” and Calle Capa “Capa Street”). Results revealed no statistical difference in learner-produced pronunciation-related LREs in the simple and complex tasks. Vowel production, however, moved in a targetlike direction for one of five segments (/e/) during the complex task. Results therefore point to some benefits of task complexity manipulations for L2 pronunciation.

Research with native speakers indicates that, during word recognition, regularly inflected words undergo parsing that segments them into stems and affixes. In contrast, studies with learners suggest that this parsing may not take place in L2. This study’s research questions are: Do L2 Spanish learners store and process regularly inflected, morphologically complex words like native speakers? Does this depend on proficiency? Does type of inflection (verbal or adjectival) play a role? Native speakers, advanced learners, and intermediate learners of Spanish completed two lexical-decision tasks. Response times were measured to target words (verbs or adjectives) preceded by masked primes that were either identical to the targets, morphologically, orthographically, or semantically related, or unrelated. All groups responded more quickly to targets when they were preceded by identical and morphologically related primes than when they were preceded by unrelated primes, with no differences due to either proficiency or inflection type.

This study uses a mixed-effects model to examine the acquisition of targetlike patterns of phonological variation by 17 English-speaking learners of French during study abroad in France. Naturalistic speech data provide evidence for the incipient acquisition of a phonological variable showing sociostylistic variation in native speaker speech: the elision of /l/ in third-person subject clitic pronouns (il vient [il vjɛ̃] ∼ [i vjɛ̃] “he is coming”). Speech data are compared and correlated with the results of a social network strength scale designed for the study abroad learning context. Results demonstrate that phonological variation patterns are acquired in a predictable order based on token type and collocation and that social networks with native speakers are statistically significant predictors of phonological variation patterns.

This study examines the effects of the timing of explicit instruction (EI) on grammatical accuracy. A total of 123 learners were divided into two groups: those with some productive knowledge of past-counterfactual conditionals (+Prior Knowledge) and those without such knowledge (−Prior Knowledge). Each group was divided into four conditions. Two (Pre-EI and Pre+During-EI) studied an EI handout prior to a composition task, but only the Pre+During-EI learners were allowed to refer to it during the task. The Post-EI learners received the handout after completing the task to use to revise their texts. The control group only completed the task. An error correction test and a text reconstruction test were used as pre- and posttests. Results showed that whereas the −Prior Knowledge learners benefited more from receiving the EI prewriting than postwriting, the +Prior Knowledge learners benefited more from the opportunities to consult the EI during or after the writing task.

The data from this study investigate phrase-final vowel devoicing in Metropolitan French among L1 and L2 speakers, in terms of number of times a speaker devoices a phrase-final high vowel and percentage of the vowel that is devoiced. The goal is to assess whether experienced L2 speakers use style-based variation in response to the same factors as native speakers. Results from a set of role playing and word list tasks revealed that L2 devoicing rates matched those of the natives, but were conditioned by different factors in each group. The duration of L2 speaker devoicing, however, was found not to match native levels. Notable differences emerged in response to shifts in style: L1 speakers showed higher rates and enhanced degrees of devoicing in pragmatic contexts that favored either slower or more formal speech, while L2 speakers responded very little to pragmatic shifts within role plays, instead responding more pronouncedly to different tasks.

Second language (L2) research relies heavily and increasingly on ANOVA (analysis of variance)-based results as a means to advance theory and practice. This fact alone should merit some reflection on the utility and value of ANOVA. It is possible that we could use this procedure more appropriately and, as argued here, other analyses such as multiple regression may prove to be more illuminating in certain research contexts. We begin this article with an overview of problems associated with ANOVA; some of them are inherent to the procedure, and others are tied to the way it is applied in L2 research. We then present three rationales for when researchers might turn to multiple regression in place of ANOVA. Output from ANOVA and multiple regression analyses based on published and mock-up studies are used to illustrate major points.

This study examines the relationship between the repetition of oral monologue tasks and immediate gains in L2 fluency. It considers the effect of aural-oral task repetition on speech rate, frequency of clause-final and midclause filled pauses, and overt self-repairs across different task types and proficiency levels and relates these findings to specific stages of L2 speech production (conceptualization, formulation, and monitoring). Thirty-two Japanese learners of English sampled at three levels of proficiency completed three oral communication tasks (instruction, narration, and opinion) six times. Results revealed that immediate aural-oral same task repetition was related to gains in oral fluency regardless of proficiency level or task type. Overall gains in speech rate were the largest across the first three performances of each task type but continued until the fifth performance. More specifically, however, clause-final pauses decreased until the second performance, midclause pauses decreased up to the fourth, and self-repairs decreased only after the fourth performance, indicating that task repetition may have been differentially related to specific stages in the speech production process.

This article synthesizes the conclusions of the empirical studies in this special issue and outlines key questions in future research. The research reported in this volume has identified several fundamental issues in pronunciation-focused task design that are discussed in detail and on which suggestions for further research are outlined. One crucial issue is how attention to pronunciation resulting in language-related episodes effectively leads to robust gains in accuracy. Another important aspect discussed is the need to adapt task design features to the phonological domain under focus and how to incorporate systematic patterns of first language interference into the task structure. Finally, we propose that future research in task-based pronunciation teaching and second language phonetics and phonology should systematically examine learner factors known to affect task performance and task features established in the research domains of lexical and grammatical development.

The present semantic priming study explores the integration of newly learnt L2 German words into the L2 semantic network of German advanced learners. It provides additional evidence in support of earlier findings reporting semantic inhibition effects for emergent representations. An inhibitory mechanism is proposed that temporarily decreases the resting levels of the representations with which the new representation is linked and thus enables its selection despite its low resting level.

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners’ first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish of 85 native English speakers from various levels of study and compares L2 productions to those of native Spanish speakers as well as to learners’ L1 English. Additionally, laterals produced in specific contexts are compared to examine learners’ acquisition of L2 allophonic patterning, as Spanish contains a subset of the lateral allophones that exist in English. Results suggest development toward nativelike norms in the phonetic details of Spanish /l/ and in allophonic patterning. These findings have implications for existing theoretical accounts of L2 speech learning, which cannot adequately account for the learning situation examined.

Understanding how language modality (i.e., signed vs. spoken) affects second language outcomes in hearing adults is important both theoretically and pedagogically, as it can determine the specificity of second language (L2) theory and inform how best to teach a language that uses a new modality. The present study investigated which cognitive-linguistic skills predict successful L2 sign language acquisition. A group (n = 25) of adult hearing L2 learners of American Sign Language underwent a cognitive-linguistic test battery before and after one semester of sign language instruction. A number of cognitive-linguistic measures of verbal memory, phonetic categorization skills, and vocabulary knowledge were examined to determine whether they predicted proficiency in a multiple linear regression analysis. Results indicated that English vocabulary knowledge and phonetic categorization skills predicted both vocabulary growth and self-rated proficiency at the end of one semester of instruction. Memory skills did not significantly predict either proficiency measures. These results highlight how linguistic skills in the first language (L1) directly predict L2 learning outcomes regardless of differences in L1 and L2 language modalities.

This study investigated the relationship between second language (L2) speakers’ success in learning a new morphosyntactic pattern and characteristics of one-on-one learning activities, including opportunities to comprehend and produce the target pattern, receive feedback from an interlocutor, and attend to the meaning of the pattern through self- and interlocutor-initiated eye-gaze behaviors. L2 English students (N = 48) were exposed to the transitive construction in Esperanto (e.g., filino mordas pomon [SVO] or pomon mordas filino [OVS] “girl bites apple”) through comprehension and production activities with an interlocutor, receiving feedback in the form of recasts for their Esperanto errors. The L2 speakers’ interpretation and production of Esperanto transitives were then tested using known and novel lexical items. The results indicated that OVS test performance was predicted by the duration of self-initiated eye gaze to images illustrating the OVS pattern during the comprehension learning activity and by accurate production of OVS sentences during the production learning activity. The findings suggest important roles for eye-gaze behavior and production opportunities in L2 pattern learning.