Issues in Second Language Proficiency

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; This text brings clarity to the characteristics and notion of language proficiency in the field of second language acquisition. It also contains a variety of research accounts about the specific factors which have an effect on proficiency. Table of Contents: Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Attaining second language proficiency / Alessandro Benati -- Part I. Theory and dimensions of second language proficiency -- 2. What is 'priming', and what might priming techniques be able to tell us about L2 learning and proficiency? / Emma Marsden -- 3. Cross-linguistic influence in L2 verb frames: the effects of word familiarity and language proficiency / Christopher J Hall, Areli Reyes -- 4. The role of working memory in the development of L2 grammatical proficiency / Clare Wright -- Part II. Factors contributing to the attainment of L2 proficiency -- 5. Statistical learning and innate knowledge in the development of second language proficiency: evidence from the acquisition of gender concord / Roger Hawkins -- 6. Metalinguistic knowledge: A stepping stone towards L2 proficiency? / Karen Roehr, Gabriela Adela Ganem-Gutierrez -- 7. The development of vocabulary proficiency in relation to learning style / Paul Booth -- 8. Second language reading proficiency and word recognition: The concept of saliency and its application across different scripts / Mick Randall -- 9. L2 proficiency: measuring the intelligibility of words and extended speech / Sara Kennedy -- 10. English with a native-like accent: an empirical study on proficiency / Tanja Angelovska, Angela Hahn -- Part 3. Attaining L2 proficiency in the classroom -- 11. Formal intervention and the development of proficiency: the role of explicit Formation / Bill Van Patten -- 12. Secondary and cumulative effects in attaining L2 proficiency in the classroom / Alessandro Benati, James Lee, Cecile Laval -- 13. Models of speaking and the assessment of second language proficiency / Peter Skehan -- 14. Researching task difficulty: towards understanding L2 proficiency / Parvaneh Tavakoli -- 15. On transfer, proficiency and cross-individual/aggregate SLA differences: Examining Adjectival Semantics in L2 Spanish / Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes, Tiffany Judy, Jason Rothman -- Index -- Introduction -- 1. The origin of the concept -- 2. The application of the zero article -- 3. Previous accounts -- 4. Article grammaticalization -- 5. Singular role holders -- 6. Corpus data analysis -- 7. Conclusions and further research -- Bibliography -- Index. Publisher Marketing: 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. Contributor Bio:  Benati, Alessandro G Alessandro Benati is Professor in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Studies and Director of the Centre for Applied Research and Outreach in Language Education (CAROLE) at the University of Greenwich, UK.