Issues In Second Language Proficiency

This text presents the findings of a major investigation of second language proficiency in various groups of school-aged learners. It invites a frank appraisal of the research from an outside panel of experts. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are the subject of a lively debate focused on three main research issues: the nature of second language proficiency, the impact of classroom treatment on second language learning, and the role of social and individual factors in bilingual development. This original collection of articles will be of interest to all those concerned with policy and practice in second language education.

A collection of papers that explore bilingual children coping with two language systems.

A comprehensive, current review of the research and approaches to advanced proficiency in second language acquisition The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition offers an overview of the most recent and scientific-based research concerning higher proficiency in second language acquisition (SLA). With contributions from an international team of experts in the field, the Handbook presents several theoretical approaches to SLA and offers an examination of advanced proficiency from the viewpoint of various contexts and dimensions of second language performance. The authors also review linguistic phenomena among advanced learners through the lens of phonology and grammar development. Comprehensive in scope, this book provides an overview of advanced proficiency grounded in socially-relevant domains of second language acquisition including discourse, reading, genre-based writing, and pragmatic competence. The authoritative volume brings together the theoretical accounts of advanced language use combined with solid empirical research. Includes contributions from an international collection of noted scholars in the field of second language acquisition Offers a variety of theoretical approaches to SLA Contains information on the most recent empirical research that contributes to an understanding of SLA Describes performance phenomena according to multiple approaches to SLA Written for scholars, students and linguists, The Handbook of Advanced Proficiency in Second Language Acquisition is a comprehensive text that offers the most recent developments in the study of advanced proficiency in the acquisition of a second language.

Benati provides clarity about the characteristics and notion of language proficiency in the field of second language acquisition. He looks at four areas of research paradigmatically related to the role of proficiency: theorizing and measuring second language proficiency; the dimensions of L2 proficiency; factors contributing to the attainment of L2 proficiency and attaining L2 proficiency in the classroom. It also contains a variety of research accounts about the specific factors which have an effect on proficiency together with a theorised measurement of proficiency in second language research. It will be required reading for researchers in applied linguistics and second language acquisition.

This text presents the findings of a major investigation of second language proficiency in various groups of school-aged learners. It invites a frank appraisal of the research from an outside panel of experts. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are the subject of a lively debate focused on three main research issues: the nature of second language proficiency, the impact of classroom treatment on second language learning, and the role of social and individual factors in bilingual development. This original collection of articles will be of interest to all those concerned with policy and practice in second language education.

An encompassing picture of what high-level competence in second languages and in multilingual use is about.

Louis A. Arena University of Delaware Newark, DE This monograph contains select, revised, and invited papers which deal with the topic, Language Proficiency: Defining, Teaching, and Testing. This topic was the theme of the eighth annual symposium held at the University of Delaware. The papers contained in this volume are invited papers or were originally scheduled for presentation and/or presented at the eighth annual Delaware Symposium on Language Studies. The papers combine research con ducted in the areas of teaching, testing, and defining second language pro ficiency within the profession of applied linguistics. They are divided into three principal sections: "Applied Linguistics and Language Pro ficiency", "Language Proficiency in Reading and Writing", and "Testing for Language Proficiency". In Part I, Paul Angelis' "Applied Linguistics: Realities and Projections re the Teaching Profession'; sketches a historical portrait of Applied Linguistics, its definition, presence, and role in the profession that teaches second language proficiency. Angelis concludes that Applied Linguistics is still a young discipline in terms of substance, organization, and strategy, and that these three components will determine the prospects for the future of applied linguistics re the teaching profession. The next six papers address the issue of second language proficiency from various points of view. Kensaku Yoshida's essay "Knowing vs Believing vs Feeling: Studies on Japanese Bilinguals" concludes that some Japanese bilinguals are actually not necessarily bilingual because they very often face problems requiring other kinds of proficiency, i. e.