Discusses foreign language pronunciation from phonetic difference and phonetic learning viewpoints. Proposes phonological translation hypothesis based on assumption that neither physiological maturation nor neurological reorganization is as important for adults learning a foreign language without an accent as the tendency of mature speakers to…

Explores the ethical issues involved in transcribing, and argues that transcribing is a situated act within a study embedded in a conceptual ecology of a discipline. Emphasizes that transcribing is a political act reflecting a discipline's conventions and a researcher's conceptualization of a phenomenon, research goals, and underlying theories.…

Describes the practical realities of obtaining interview data for evaluation of language teaching in a complex situation in Albania. (Author/VWL)

All forms of English-as-a-Second-Language are ideological, whether or not educators are conscious of the political implications of their instructional choices. Ideology is unavoidable, a position supported by various L1 and L2 scholars whose work is surveyed. Accommodationist politics of apparently neutral pragmatism in English for academic…

Presents a simplified binary schema of the English article system as a pedagogical tool for selecting the appropriate article, a universally acknowledged difficulty for nonnative speakers of English. (25 references) (GLR)

Analyzes the prominence in communicative language teaching (CLT) of phenomenalistic and intuitive activities, and examines when, how, and why a person reflects. The discussion also looks at three types of CLT activities that could encourage reflection, including task-oriented, process-oriented, and synthesis-oriented. (39 references) (GLR)

Describes a process for rethinking resources in the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom. Rethinking resources is possible through multimodal pedagogies that recognize students as remakers and transformers of the representational resources available to them. (Author/VWL)

Describes progress in as well as the resistance to and constraining factors facing efforts to implement communicative language teaching (CLT) in China. Adopting CLT in China inevitably involves transforming the traditional analytic grammar-translation approach. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the important role of background knowledge in a psycholinguistic model of EFL/ESL reading and demonstrates the relevance of schema-theoretic views of reading to the teaching of reading to EFL/ESL students. Also discusses classroom implications of the schema-theoretic view and suggests techniques for bringing about reader-centered EFL/ESL…

Reports on a case study of two feminist English classes in Japan. The two classes described are grass-roots examples of Japanese women combining their study of English with the study of feminism, consciousness-raising, and action in the world. (JL)

Advocates practitioner-research, by teachers and learners, in their own language classrooms. Points out that teachers who are successful at integrating an investigative element into their teaching may demand collegial support to increase the chance for satisfactory research and that other teachers may develop a new professional concept of what…

Unless a clear distinction is made between the semantic time reference of the modal "perfect" and that of the present perfect aspect, these forms will remain confusing to students of English as a second language. A brief sequence is suggested for teaching modals which incorporates and clarifies these time relationships and simplifies the…

Presents Hilder's view of Bell's article on the relationship between first and second language literacy and follows up with Bell's response. Hilder examines the implications of Bell's article for classes in English for academic purposes and draws on other literature for pedagogical direction. The author elaborates on Hilder's comments on the…

Describes the English vocabulary learning strategies of two successful language learners in the "input-poor" environment of the Chinese classroom, where the majority of language learning comes from intensive reading of English texts. Results show that, contrary to popular ideas about vocabulary learning in the West, Chinese learners…

Proposes the use of a five-component (motivation, knowledge, skills, outcomes, and context) relational model of communication competence (Spitzberg and Cupach, 1984) as a foundation for understanding and working with students experiencing anxiety in using a second language. Offers specific exercises for helping students manage their perceptions of…