Even learners with good language ability do not automatically engage in interactional encounters in the foreign language. Affective factors, such as speakers’ willingness to communicate (WTC), self-confidence and enjoyment of oral interaction play an important role in this (e.g. Dewaele & MacIntyre, …

Interaction in the target language (TL) is essential to foreign language development (Swain, 1985, Long, 1981). Meaningful tasks are thought to evoke interaction between learners (e.g. Pica, Kanagy & Falodun, 2009). However, even in a task-based curriculum for German, Dutch secondary school learners …

In Nederland komen maandelijks mensen in vertelgroepen bij elkaar om samen de kunst van het verhalen vertellen te beoefenen. Tekla Slangen liep een half jaar als participerend onderzoeker mee met een lokale vertelgroep. In dit artikel geeft ze een inkijk in wat vertellers beweegt en waaraan ze hun waarde …

OBJECTIVE: Optimal timing of palatal repair is still subject of discussion. Although literature provides some evidence that palatal closure prior to 6 months positively influence speech outcome in children with clefts, only few studies verified this hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to describe …

Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) is a congenital craniofacial defect that arises on average in 1.7 per 1000 live births. This anomaly causes atypical facial appearance, hearing problems, malocclusions and speech disorders. Outcomes in terms of speech are influenced by timing of surgical cleft closure. …

OBJECTIVE: Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterized by systemic vascular dysfunction and pathological changes in placental arteries. Growing evidence of chronic infection as an aetiological factor in vascular diseases prompted us to study maternal periodontal disease in subjects with …