The colonial legacy of English instruction has become especially relevant within the field of TESOL. While it is promising that increasing attention is being paid to the issue of colonialism and its historical and contemporary impact on the teaching of English, educators might be left without a clear sense of how to traverse the precarious path of…

This paper outlines the ongoing construction of a speech corpus for use by applied linguists and advanced EFL/ESL students. In the first part, sections 1-4, the need for improvements in the teaching of listening skills and pronunciation practice for EFL/ESL students is noted. It is argued that the use of authentic native-to-native speech is…

In a survey, 130 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were asked to describe the meanings of English tenses in terms of time concepts used in ESL grammar texts. Results suggest that grammar teaching utilizing descriptions of time accepted in English-speaking communities to explain usages and meanings of English tenses can limit learner…

Discusses how native speakers of Spanish, accustomed to dealing with nonnative Spanish speakers, evaluated 18 taped nonnative speech samples that provided a wide sample of pronunciation. Comprehensibility, voice agreeability/ disagreeability, and nativeness of accent were rated. (32 references) (LB)

Describes an experiment designed to determine which language errors interfere to the greatest degree with comprehension by native speakers of the language. For this purpose, an instructor prepared a list of most serious Spanish language errors which was submitted to native speakers for evaluation in terms of comprehension and acceptability. (MES)

Complains that no one learns a second language from studying it at school. Attributes this problem to the fact that no opportunity exists for conversation to reinforce what is being learned. Suggests working in rotated pairs to provide conversational practice. Calls for bilingual texts and lessons and for taking advantage of having bilingual…

A survey of native Spanish speakers from both Spain and Latin America found that the choice of predicate adjectives governing "tough" constructions in Spanish (e.g., "el libro es facil de leer") varies by individual, but some patterns did emerge that suggest "tough" constructions and "it is" constructions…

A study investigated whether markedness relationships within a target language influence the degree of difficulty in acquisition. The Intralingual Markedness Hypothesis was developed, stating that if structures in the target language differ from those in the native language, and if those structures in the target language are in a markedness…

A study examined the occurrence of specific grammatical structures (double object pronouns, nominalization with "lo," demonstrative adjectives/pronouns, and possessive adjectives/pronouns) in oral samples of native speaker Spanish and compared the results with the treatment of the structures in six beginning-level college Spanish textbooks.…

A study investigated whether English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students' understanding of culturally-loaded words (those that are similar in primary meaning but different in connotation between the two languages) approximates that of native speakers of English, and how much English proficiency level may account for the extent of this…

Discusses methods by which a teacher of English as a second language in a foreign country can teach himself/herself the language of that country. Such methods include keeping a diary, studying grammar, using the mass media, and engaging native speakers in conversation whenever possible. (SED)

This textbook tapescript is a component of "Beginning Pashto," a set of materials (including a textbook, student workbook, and glossary) that teaches the Pashto language. The textbook tapescript consists of the dialogues, readings, example sentences, and vocabulary contained in the units of the Textbook, recast in tapescript form. The tapescript…

This teachers' manual is a component of "Beginning Pashto," a set of materials (including a textbook, student workbook, tapescripts, and a glossary) that teaches the Pashto language. The teacher's manual is written for the native speaker of Pashto who is educated but does not have a background in language teaching or an extensive background in…

The development and validation of oral native language tests for Dutch adolescents was conducted for both assessment and curriculum development purposes at the secondary level. The oral language situations tested were the monologue, dialogue, and polylogue or group conversation on a topic. An American inventory of common speech subjects was used…

This study analyzed complimenting behavior in French between French native speakers and American advanced French learners in seven dinner party conversations. Data are found to provide a rich source of lessons in politeness for both sociolinguistic and pedagogic descriptions of French speech acts. (Author/MSE)