Digital literacy skills are crucial twenty-first-century skills that are required for the successful use of technology and active engagement in today's world. However, there is a lack of effective resources and guidelines for developing English as a second language (ESL) learners' digital literacy skills. Due to their increasingly important and…

The education of teachers who can effectively respond to immigrant and refugee students' needs has been a major issue in Türkiye and globally. Drawing on culturally relevant pedagogy, this phenomenological study explores the professional needs of 24 elementary teachers in Türkiye who teach immigrant and refugee students in their classes and were…

Culture, language, and learning strategies form a grand tapestry, which is this article's theme. The authors explain each part of the tapestry, provide ideas for teaching all parts in a smoothly united way, and explore key cultural issues (i.e., cognitive flexibility, ethnocultural empathy, intercultural understanding, and needs of intercultural…

Although the use of corpus data in language learning is a steadily growing research area, direct access to corpora by teachers and learners and the use of the data in the classroom are developing slowly. This paper explores how teachers can integrate corpus approaches in their practice. After situating the topic in relation to current research and…

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 44.3 million people living in the United States in 2006 were of Hispanic descent. This population is far from homogeneous and includes seven major subgroups based on their origin, each with its own characteristics, which are briefly discussed. Of the 5.1 million children identified as English language learners,…

This article presents a description of some pragmatic expressions ("oder so," "und so," "oder wie") rarely found in textbooks, but common in everyday conversation. Though often treated as vague or superfluous, these expressions perform important functions in interpersonal communication. Focusing on these easily identifiable phrases can help…

In the context of teaching culture, this article presents teaching materials that provide learners of German with opportunities to reflect about, analyze, and practice, how Germans commonly react to compliments. Based on findings from conversation analysis, the materials provide students with rich contextual information and a variety of…

Native English speakers have difficulty determining which form of direct address is appropriate in German, and students also need practice in giving commands to one another. This article describes an easily organized drill covering both areas. (Author/LB)

In a study of learners' levels of comfort with language activity types allowing differing degrees of interaction, 110 first-year college students of French, Spanish, and Italian were surveyed at a university and community college. Results suggest the value of activities facilitative of negotiated interaction. The questionnaire is appended. (10…

A discussion of the second-language teaching technique of creating "video letters" responds to the questions commonly asked by skeptics about the technique's effectiveness and place in the curriculum. Advantages cited include development of learner autonomy, use of a medium familiar to students, and potential for skill development. (MSE)

Ten guidelines, along with corresponding teaching techniques and learning activities, are offered for developing students' communicative proficiency as described in the "ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines." The objective is to improve students' Spanish and Portuguese communication ability in authentic, situational contexts. (16 references) (LB)

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)

An American studying for his master's degree in French in France reflects on the experience of advanced second-language learning. The discussion focuses on the stage at which interaction with others replaces formulation of sentences as the primary task and on understanding the power of word choice. (MSE)

Classroom communication in the second-language class is examined from an ethnographic perspective, highlighting the role of students in helping each other learn. Turn-taking, patterns of addressing teacher and peers, and different kinds of interaction that promote learning: cooperative; didactic; competitive; theatrical; personalized. (MSE)

Aspects of communication, particularly in the language classroom, that contribute to or inhibit communicative interaction are discussed in this 11-chapter book. The first chapter offers a general discussion of the elements of interpersonal communication. Chapters 2 and 3 outline strategies that language teachers might adopt to engage and sustain…