In this article, the author revisits her essay, "Students as Readers of Their Classmates' Writing," by providing a review of the literature on peer review over the past three decades and comments on patterns she sees in waves of peer review research and theorizing. She describes her subsequent experience with peer review in her own classes, and…

Language attracts everyone on earth. That is because we have and use language. Although there are some minority languages that have limited expressions such as the lack of writing systems in "Aynu itak" and "Shona" languages, they can effectively express their emotion and thought with their languages. In addition, every human being can acquire…

In November 2009, the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) hosted a "Visioning Session" to revisit the framework and definitions that have been used to measure the mobility of transfer students in British Columbia. Members of BCCAT's standing committees participated along with representatives from the Ministry of Advanced…

This essay examines the working-class Mexican experience as represented in Jorge Ulica's "Cronicas Diabolicas," which he published between 1916 and 1926. What unites the wide-ranging subject matter of the chronicles is the author's resolute interest in maintaining his working-class compatriots' cultural and ideological ties to Mexico.…

In this paper, it is argued, based on evidence from psychological literature, that there are three major approaches to the study of personality, namely (1) situationism, (2) interactionism, and (3) constructivism. It is also noticed that these approaches have resulted in the emergence of three major types of personality theories: (i) type…

Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive science George Lakoff is among the handful of current faculty members in the United States to have successfully recast himself as a significant figure in national politics. Though his views place rather far on the progressive left, he has, unlike some other scholar-activists, focused most of his…

Examines the likelihood of the dominant position of English coming under serious challenge as a world language. Discusses factors such as writing systems, standardization, and modernization.(Author/VWL)

Reviews the concept that the melodic features of language play a major role in a child's acquisition of both oral and book language. (FL)

The concepts of language acquisition and interlanguage as they relate to second language teaching methods are discussed. The aim of such teaching should be error-free communicative competence. Formal teaching is not enough to ensure a high level of proficiency. (CB)

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' guidelines for foreign language teaching and learning focus on the linear acquisition of grammatical structures, but this proficiency will not automatically lead to interactional competence. Enthusiasm generated by the proficiency movement should be redirected toward a push for…

The actual possibilities for communication among Africans are unsatisfactory. While the north has adopted Arabic as its lingua franca, most African states south of the Sahara still use the language(s) of their former colonial masters as official languages, thereby neglecting their native languages. This situation excludes many people from higher…

An examination of concerns about and suggestions for revising the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Proficiency Guidelines indicates that confirmatory empirical research and determination of the relative absence or presence of components are needed. (CB)

Finds confirmation of the humanizing influence of language in anthropological and linguistic studies, in creation myths, and in the lives of individuals such as Anne Frank and Helen Keller. Sees in George Orwell's "1984" and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" examples of the dehumanization created by empty or deceptive…

The objective of this response article is to think through some of what I see as the far-reaching implications of a recent paper by Eric Hauser (2005) entitled "Coding 'corrective recasts': the maintenance of meaning and more fundamental problems". Hauser makes a compelling, empirically-backed case for his contention that, contrary to widespread…

No single foreign language teaching method can produce speakers with competence in all areas of the target language. Teachers should be aware that the relative importance of form versus function varies with the specific goals of language use and should consider the consequences of fossilization, error correction, and comprehensibility in teaching…