NEWS: NOW ON PROJECT MUSE: The Third Issue from CMLR’s 75th Volume!

Articles
Willingness to Communicate and Second Language Speech Fluency: An Investigation of Affective and Cognitive Dynamics

by Shahin Nematizadeh, David Wood

Research investigating L2 (second language) willingness to communicate (WTC) has gained ground in the past two decades. Added to that is the emergence of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) with a focus on the phenomenon of change, the implications of which for WTC research have opened up new avenues to enhance our conceptualization of the construct.

 

 

Evaluating Measures of Pausing for Second Language Fluency Research

by Christine Shea, Karen Leonard

In the L2 fluency literature there is considerable debate over how best to operationally define pauses and how different pause measures relate to L2 proficiency. This creates a challenge for researchers interested in L2 fluency, and particularly those who are working with groups that vary in L2 proficiency. This article addresses these issues by examining oral production data from 48 learners of Spanish (L1 English) to evaluate which pause measures best serve as markers of fluency.

 

 

Using the Concept of Aspect to Mediate the Choice of Past Tense in L2 French: Case Study of an Advanced Student at the Tertiary Level

by Jeanne Claire Rolin-Ianziti, Carl Ord

This study expands on previous research in concept-based instruction (CBI) by investigating the use of the grammatical concept of aspect as a tool to mediate decision making during tasks. Specifically, this article reports the findings of a longitudinal case study that examines one student’s explanations for his choice of French past tense (passé composé or imparfait).

 

 

Focus on the Classroom / Pleins feux sur la class
The Development of the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative at the University of Ottawa

by Nikolay Slavkov, Jérémie Séror

We define linguistic risks as authentic communicative acts in learners’ second official language (French/English) which may be “risky” due to factors such as making mistakes, being misunderstood, misunderstanding others, being judged, taking on a different identity, and changing previously established language-choice patterns.