Advanced language learning has only recently begun to capture the interest and attention of applied linguists and professionals in language education in the United States. In this breakthrough volume, experts in the field lay the groundwork for approaching the increasingly important role of advanced language learning in the larger context of multilingual societies, globalization, and security.

This volume presents both general and theoretical insights and language-specific considerations in college classrooms spanning a range of languages, from the commonly taught languages of English, French, and German to the less commonly taught Farsi, Korean, Norwegian, and Russian.

Among theoretical frameworks likely to be conducive to imagining and fostering instructed "advancedness" in a second language, this volume highlights a cognitive-semantic approach. The theoretical and data-based findings make clear that advanced learners in particular are characterized by the capacity to make situated choices from across the entire language system, from vocabulary and grammar to discourse features, which suggests the need for a text-oriented, meaning-driven approach to language teaching, learning, and research.

This volume also considers whether and how information structuring in second-language composition reveals first-language preferences of grammaticized concepts. Other topics include curricular and instructional approaches to narrativity, vocabulary expansion, the demands on instructed programs for efficiency and effectiveness in order to assure advanced levels, and learners' ability to function in professional contexts with their diverse oral and written genre requirements. Finally, the volume probes the role and nature of assessment as a measurement tool for both researching and assessing advanced language learning and as an essential component of improving programs.

Heidi Byrnes is the George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German at Georgetown University. In 2004 she was awarded the Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

Heather D. Weger-Guntharp is currently working on her PhD in applied linguistics at Georgetown University, with primary specialization in individual differences and SLA.

Katherine A. Sprang holds a PhD from the German Department at Georgetown University, with primary specialization in second language acquisition.

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Preface

1. Locating the Advanced Learner in Theory, Research, and Educational Practice: An IntroductionHeidi Byrnes, Georgetown University

Part I: Cognitive Approaches to Advanced Language Learning

2. The Conceptual Basis of Grammatical StructureRonald W. Langacker, The University of California, San Diego

3. The Impact of Grammatical Temporal Categories on Ultimate Attainment in L2 LearningChristiane von Stutterheim and Mary Carroll, University of Heidelberg

4. Reorganizing Principles of Information Structure in Advanced L2s: French and German Learners of EnglishMary Caroll and Monique Lambert, University of Heidelberg and University of Paris VIII

5. Language-based Processing in Advanced L2 Production and Translation: An Exploratory StudyBergljot Behrens, Department of Linguistics and Nordic Studies, University of Oslo

6. Learning and Teaching Grammar through Patterns of Conceptualization: The Case of (Advanced) KoreanSusan Strauss, The Pennsylvania State University and Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER)

Part II: Descriptive and Instructional Considerations in Advanced Learning

7. Narrative Competence in a Second LanguageAneta Pavlenko, Temple University and Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER)

8. Lexical Inferencing in L1 and L2: Implications for Vocabulary Instruction and Learning at Advanced LevelsT. Sima Paribakht and Marjorie Wesche, University of Ottawa

9. From Sports to the EU Economy: Integrating Curricula through Genre-based Content CoursesSusanne Rinner and Astrid Weigert, Georgetown University

10. Hedging and Boosting in Advanced-Level L2 Legal Writing: The Effect of Instruction and FeedbackRebekha Abbuhl, California State University at Long Beach

Part III: The Role of Assessment in Advanced Learning

11. Assessing Advanced Foreign Language Learning and Learners: From Measurement Constructs to Educational UsesJohn M. Norris, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

12. Rethinking Assessment for Advanced Language ProficiencyElana Shohamy, Tel Aviv University