ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics - Volume 176, Issue 2, 2025

Abstract

This study investigates how morphosyntactic features of learners’ L1 (Czech; English) and characteristics of L2-textbook input jointly contribute to L2-Korean learners’ comprehension of Korean subject–predicate honorific agreement, focusing on the two mismatch conditions on the honorific status between a subject and a predicate. Textbook analysis revealed over-emphasis on the honorific suffix (and honorification in general) and unsystematic approaches to raising awareness of this knowledge. Acceptability judgement with reaction time measurement revealed learners’ global leniency in the grammatically incorrect condition and by-L1 asymmetries regarding acceptability ratings and processing cost for the infelicitous (but acceptable in actual language use) condition. Implications of this study’s findings are discussed with respect to the interplay between L1 properties and L2 textbook input in constructing noisy representations of L2 knowledge.

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of educating Austrian EFL teachers-in-training about the concept of task, on the premise that this understanding would be a significant prerequisite for them to effectively implement TBLT in their young learner classrooms. Participants were trainee teachers enrolled in a Master’s program, where TBLT was a module of one of their courses. The course content centered around Ellis and Shintani’s (2014) task principles, and emphasized an active, experiential understanding of TBLT theory and its relevance to teachers’ own teaching practices. Participants designed, used and evaluated a language task in their classes. Results showed that most teachers developed tasks that met the prespecified criteria and effectively evaluated the challenges in their task implementations, providing valuable suggestions for future improvements.

Abstract

This study investigates the production of German front rounded and tense–lax back vowels (/uː/, /ʊ/, /ʏ/, /yː/) by Arabic-speaking L2 learners, addressing the underexplored area of how L1 Arabic phonological systems — where vowel length is phonemic — influence the acquisition of German vowel contrasts in L2 speech production. These vowels were selected based on predictions from the Speech Learning Model (SLM), as they represent both similar (/uː/, /ʊ/) and new (/ʏ/, /yː/) categories relative to the Arabic vowel inventory. Nine Arabic-speaking learners of German participated in the study and were compared with nine L1 German speakers. The study specifically examines the acoustic characteristics of these four vowels, focusing on formant values (F1 and F2) and vowel duration. The target vowels were embedded in disyllabic and multisyllabic word contexts. Acoustic analysis revealed that Arabic-speaking learners maintained a vowel length contrast similar to that of L1 speakers, with no significant durational differences observed between groups except for the vowel /ʊ/. The durational patterns suggest a possible transfer of L1 phonological features into the L2 environment. Additionally, significant differences in F1 and F2 values were found across speaker groups and vowel categories, with Arabic-speaking learners exhibiting vowel fronting and formant transfer. The findings are discussed within the framework of the SLM, illustrating the assimilation of similar vowels (/uː/, /ʊ/) to corresponding Arabic vowels, while new vowels (/ʏ/, /yː/) appear to be established as distinct phonetic categories. The results also offer pedagogical implications for improving pronunciation accuracy and speech intelligibility among Arabic-speaking learners of German.

This article reviews Knowledge-based Vocabulary Lists9781800504158 

This article reviews Critical Applied Linguistics: An Intersectional Introduction9781003316992.