Second language pragmatics are not easily acquired by second language learners for a variety of reasons including negative first language transfer, insufficient grammatical competence, and inadequate instruction. For adult learners living in the second language environment, adequate pragmatic knowledge is essential even for beginning level…

The author is responsible for teaching reading classes and overseeing the reading curriculum at an intensive English program in the United States. The institution strives to make reading fluency a priority in the classroom, but after conducting a basic overview of the literature on the topic, the author realized that the approach could be improved…

This book is unique in bringing together studies on instructed second language acquisition that focus on a common question: "What renders this research particularly relevant to classroom applications, and what are the advantages, challenges, and potential pitfalls of the methodology adopted?" The empirical studies feature experimental,…

Linguistic accuracy plays an important role in the quality of written texts, yet the explicit teaching of linguistic form--particularly grammar--for the purpose of improving learners' writing has generated an ongoing debate. Furthermore, students' voices about their learning are often ignored because they are perceived as not knowing what they…

A strategy for including writing of a research paper in a university's advanced intensive English course for students of English as a second language is described. The method consists of eight assignments given over the course of 11 weeks, resulting in a short research paper. The method is designed to minimize error by dealing with specific…

One university professor's use of French comic strips as the focus of an advanced, intensive language course is described. The approach addresses the visual and iconic in the comics as much as the linguistic element. (27 references) (MSE)

Several scholars have investigated the strengths and weaknesses of native-English-speaking (NES) and nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) teachers of English as a second language (ESL), but few researchers have explored intensive English program (IEP) administrators' and ESL teachers' perspectives on teacher training and the strengths and weaknesses…

An overview of how reading has been used in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classroom is offered, example of changes in reading and writing models are examined, current views of the connections between reading and writing are discussed, and application of these connections in one advanced ESL writing class is reported. (85…

The structure of an 8-week intensive course in literature for advanced learners of English as a Second Language is described. Focus is on engaging student interest with texts rich in theme and/or language that can elicit thoughtful discussion. In the first 2 weeks, the language and length of the texts (short stories) selected make them relatively…

An intensive college-level French language course, based on the principles of immersion and designed to aid students in the transition between intermediate and advanced proficiency levels, is described. Focus is on three course aspects: teacher contacts; meetings with native-speaking students; and use of audiovisual aids. (21 references) (MSE)

Based on a hypothetical situation in which second language learners must attain substantial skills in a very short time, the paper recommends intensive training not in the language itself, but in skills and strategies for learning the language. This requires achieving self-directed learning skills to: create a climate maximizing learning; identify…

Curriculum innovations succeed or fail according to the extent to which teachers, and to some extent students, feel that they are meaningfully involved in the process of change. For change to be effective, it cannot be simply imposed from above; rather it depends absolutely on the people who implement it. The innovations described in this book…

This paper presents suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of intensive language workshops designed to upgrade and reinforce the language skills of high school foreign language teachers. Once the decision has been made to organize a workshop, the following steps might be taken: identifying the range of needs and interests of the…

Both teacher and student editions of a guide for a tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, designed for students in an intensive English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program at Temple University (Pennsylvania) are presented here. They were intended to provide a content-based tour of a local art museum for university ESL students that ESL teachers…

Experiences in teaching a first-year reading course in the intensive English program at Kansai Gaidai Junior College (Japan) are discussed. In the period described, there were six classes of 16 students each. A proficiency-oriented approach incorporating a learner development component was adopted to facilitate the transition from traditional…