This article evaluates the characteristics of the Yes/No test as a measure for receptive vocabulary size in second language (L2). This evaluation was conducted both on theoretical grounds as well as on the basis of a large corpus of data collected with French learners of Dutch. The study focuses on the internal qualities of the format in comparison with other more classical test formats. The central issue of determining a meaningful test score is addressed by providing a theoretical framework distinguishing discrete from continuous models. Correction formulae based on the discrete approach are shown to differ when applied to the Yes/No test in comparison with Multiple Choice (MC) or True/False formats. Correction formulae based on the continuous approach take the response bias into account but certain underlying assumptions need to be validated. It is shown that both correction schemes display several shortcomings and that most of the data relative to the reliability of the Yes/No test presented in the literature are overestimated. Finally, several future research options are proposed in order to attain a straightforward but reliable and valid instrument for measuring receptive vocabulary size.

Previous studies on the perception of French stop consonants in isolated utterances have demonstrated that the timing relationship between the onset/offet of voice and the release of the closure provides a very reliable acoustic criterion to separate voiced from voiceless stops, and a major cue for the perception of the voicing feature. The aim of this work is to examine stops pronounced spontaneously during a conversation. Experiment 1, an acoustic analysis of spontaneous productions, largely confirms the high reliability of voice timing cues but also shows that they can be occasionally misleading. Experiment 2, where subjects were asked to identify stops contained in excerpts from the conversation, confirms the major part played by voice timing in the perception of voicing. It also suggests that the reliability of the voice timing cues is not optimally exploited by the perceptual system. Experiment 3 and a control condition, where subjects were asked to write down the contents of excerpts varying in duration, demonstrate that the supplementary information that allows correct identification in the frame of the conversation is provided by top-down processes. These experiments also suggest that secondary acoustic cues play a decisive part in the case of conflict between voice timing cues and top-down information.

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This article reports an experiment in which mental imagery was used as a mnemonic strategy to enhance learners' retention of figurative idioms. Language students in tertiary education were provided with on-line exercises on 120 English idioms. Under the experimental condition, participants were presented with multiple-choice exercises in which they were asked to hypothesise about the etymological origin of the given idioms. This task was meant to elicit mental imagery. Under the control condition, participants were presented with traditional multiple-choice exercises in which they were asked to identify the correct figurative meaning of the idioms. Retention was measured one week later by means of a gap-fill exercise in which the participants were asked to produce the keywords of the idioms in context. The results of the experiment suggest (i) that mental imagery can be a powerful mnemonic strategy, and (ii) that this strategy generates superior recall, especially with regard to etymologically rather transparent figurative idioms, even though processing these may require relatively little cognitive effort.

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