The present study investigates the nature of communicative language ability as manifested in performance on the TOEFL iBT test, as well as the relationship between this ability with test-takers’ study-abroad and learning experiences. The research interest in the nature of language ability is shared by the language testing community, whereas understanding the factors that affect language acquisi...

The cyberspace is an instrument through which internet users could get new experiences. It could contribute to foster one’s own growth, widening cognitive, creative and communicative abilities and promoting relationships. In the cyberspace, in fact, it is possible to create virtual learning communities where internet users improve their interpersonal sphere, knowledge and skills. The main eleme...

Research has been carried out as part of an investigation into more efficient ways of teaching the principles of sound synthesis using Computer Assisted Learning (CAL). The research concentrates on the navigation methods used to access the teaching material. Emphasis is placed on active and communicative teaching methods, with the aim of encouraging self-structured, autonomous learning. Details...

It has been widely accepted that language is not only a system of rules, but a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning. In that sense, it is essential to distinguish between knowing various grammatical rules and being able to use these rules effectively when communicating. This view has underpinned one of the most popular approaches to language – communicative language teaching. The aim of...

The teaching of Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) in the second half of the twentieth centuryhas been greatly influenced both by the communicative approach and by developments inresearch in discourse analysis, particularly with reference to genre. The integration of researchin corpus linguistics in the language-learning environment has been a more recent phenomenon,with publ...

Previous research has suggested that the normal development of communicative functions proceeds from the directing or "instrumental" types to the informative or "heuristic" types with age. This paper describes a cross-sectional study of communicative function in children with profound hearing loss and children with normal hearing, from ages 12-54 months. The children with hearing loss were lear...

Humanlike robots are designed to communicate using human verbal and nonverbal language and engage in conversations with people where social gaze cues play an important role. While research in human-robot interaction has shown that people understand these cues and interpret them as valid signals for human communication, whether social gaze cues can serve as an effective communicative mechanism t...

Recent work suggests that language production exhibits a bias towards efficient information transmission. Speakers tend to provide more linguistic signal for meaning elements that are difficult to recover while reducing contextually inferrable (more frequent, probable, or expected) elements. This tradeoff has been hypothesized to shape grammatical systems over generations, contributing to cross...

The acquisition of linguistic competency from more experienced social partners is a fundamental aspect of human language. However, there is little evidence that non-human primates learn to use their vocalizations from social partners. Captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) produce idiosyncratic vocal signals that are used intentionally to capture the attention of a human experimenter. Interestin...