In recent years, the use of English corpora to instruct grammar in writing classes has become increasingly popular. In English for Specific Purposes classes, such a novel approach is critically important since it not only allows teachers to achieve a profound understanding of which syntactic structures should be instructed, but it also increases…

Currently, a growing number of teaching approaches focus on aspects of variation in language (e.g. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), World Englishes, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), genre theories, etc.); however, each of these approaches tends to focus on particular (specific) aspects of language variation and do not fully account for the…

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is a private, nonprofit organization with over 50 years' experience in the application of research on language and culture to educational and societal concerns. CAL carries out its mission to improve communication through better understanding of language and culture by engaging in a variety of projects in…

Describes the development of a special set of tutorials for training nonnative English speakers to take a computerized test of English as a Foreign Language. The experiences of the 1169 individuals who participated in the computer-familiarity study are characterized in terms of timing and performance data and self-reported attitudes. Most…

The psychological and linguistic foundations of the cloze procedure are outlined, and standard approaches and terms used are reviewed. Notes are given on cloze in testing, in relation to language structure, and as a teaching device, focusing on the manipulation of the technique for a variety of purposes and situations. (MSE)

A text concordancer is a computer program that operates on a body of text to locate and sort all occurrences of a target morpheme, word, or pattern. Developments in word processing and hard disks in small computers have made new applications of the technique possible with direct relevance to the classroom. A discussion of the technique looks at…

This book covers various aspects of the "graded objectives movement" in England and is intended to help teachers understand the ideas behind the movement and to form working groups to implement it. Graded objectives are understood as those objectives which represent steps in a continuum that could be attempted by all learners who would…

A 1987 project to develop materials for computer-assisted instruction in Thai and Indonesian and to train teachers in their use is described. Three different sets of Thai materials based on authentic materials were developed and field tested. One concerned the layout and function of a Thai monastery compound, another was an advanced exercise in…

The collaborative curriculum development process in a postsecondary language education program in Japan is described, looking specifically at the work of five curriculum development teams, or focus groups: needs assessment; curriculum aims, goals, and objectives; cognitive development and learner strategies; materials development; and learner…

The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) Adult Reading Components Study (ARCS) was the first large-scale attempt to describe the reading of students enrolled in adult basic education (ABE) and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) using a battery of individually administered reading and language tests.…

The English Language and Concepts Program for Spanish-Speaking Children (LCS) is designed to enable Spanish-speaking youngsters to succeed in the regular school classroom. This report presents detailed summaries of major studies in the LCS tryout and evaluation sequence. (1) LCS prototype tryout, 1969: Tryout is described, materials and procedures…

The report describes the implementation and continuing documentation of a Japanese second language program in a laboratory elementary school at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). The structure of the curriculum and instructional strategies used are described for each of the program's 2 years, and results of student assessments and…

The development of a program to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is discussed. A master plan is offered that encompases a manifold effort in the areas of administrative organization, community relations, diagnosis of student needs, instructional program design, staff development, counseling and guidance, curriculum and…