Utilizing eye-tracking technology and focusing on the “rapid”, “purposeful” and “comprehending” attributes of fluent reading, this study investigated first language (L1) and second language (L2) readers’ online reading patterns and comprehension. Eye movement data from nine L1 readers and nine L2 readers were collected, analyzed and compared. Post-experiment interviews were conducted to obtain ...

Studies on the use of synchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (SCMC) tasks have mostly focused on how they could be used to facilitate the learning of different aspects of a second language. Recent research from a functional perspective has suggested the need to examine the impact of SCMC tasks on the development of L2 academic literacy (Mohan & Luo, 2005). With the increase use ...

The purpose of the study is to compare the writing proficiencies of firstand second-language learners and to examine their teachers’ beliefs about the writing students produce. The four fifth-graders were nominated by their teachers as either strong or weak writers. Text analysis methods were used to analyze the writing proficiencies manifested in the compositions and interviews with the teache...

This study of the pragmatics of cross-cultural text messages throws light on the evolution of new hybrid forms of literacy and on the complex ways that culture is expressed and mediated in second language/ second culture contexts. An investigation was carried out into the pragmatics of apology in first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) short messaging service text messages of adult Malay s...

D^hrowska's target article comes at a time when the study of individual diflerences is a more prominent "in thing" than ever in both native and non-native language studies. For example, the cover of the most recent research report of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics proclaims: "Individual differences are a hallmark of our language faculty," and an upcoming issue of Language Learni...

We present the case study of MB-a bilingual child with Down syndrome (DS) who speaks Russian (first language [L1]) and English (second language [L2]) and has learned to read in two different alphabets with different symbol systems. We demonstrate that, in terms of oral language, MB is as proficient in Russian as English, with a mild advantage for reading in English, her language of formal instr...

As an important and a challenging source-based writing task, synthesizing offers rich opportunities to explore the connections between reading and writing. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of two Chinese students’ learning experiences with academic synthesis writing in a university ESL composition course. Specifically, we discuss how the two students’ understanding o...

The complexity of the writing skill, low literacy skills, interlanguage errors, language proficiency, lack critical thinking, poor information and second (L2) anxiety, which is supported by two-semester course performance analysis, result in skill among one Malaysian universities' undergraduates.

This paper offers a reflection on how academic and professional interactions can help guide best practices for constructing viable evaluation grids to assess multimodal literacy. Preparing English-language learners today's digitally culturally complex workplace environment is central concern in English as second language (L2) teaching environments. It requires meeting specific goals, such suppo...