The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) National Professional Development Program helped language teachers familiarize themselves with the Languages Profile and collect and annotate work samples using the Profile. Their experiences become the basis for disseminating information among ACT language teachers. The paper presents recurrent issues raised…

Social, aptitudinal, and attitudinal factors that influence acquisition of a second language can also have an effect on the subsequent retention of that language. "Retention" is the maintenance or improvement of proficiency in a language following its acquisition. A study by G. Edwards shows that long-term retention of linguistic and…

Examines the role of American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines in language proficiency testing, focusing on Japanese language instruction and discussing how effective that system is in relation to university classroom instruction. Two main issues are addressed: viewing ACTFL Proficiency Tests as having the…

Discusses the advantages and challenges of using e-mail in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning, focusing on synchronous versus asynchronous computer-mediated communication; what online English is like; the advantages of computer-mediated communication; and how to make communication available to ESL learners. (SM)

Outlines the preferred learning styles of students studying second languages, offering suggestions for their application in second-language classrooms. The paper describes the right-brain/left-brain theory and how the two brain hemispheres are involved in learning; presents four classroom strategies (diversification, contextualization,…

Suggests that language awareness, or consciousness raising, has great potential in second-language learning. Language awareness presents students with linguistic data so they can work out grammatical rules for themselves. Offers a variety of examples of possible language-awareness lessons, first for the teaching of English, then for the teaching…

This first of a two-part article looks at the language learning-acquiring distinction, discussing the consequences of teaching at either end of the learning-acquiring continuum. Describes the distinction between the two, discusses the learning versus acquiring of grammar, and compares the two. The second part of the article will focus on memory…

Discusses the utility of the German Speaking Test (GST) as a general test of German foreign-language proficiency, examining whether it can be used effectively in classroom and institutional foreign-language settings and how proficiency ratings based on the GST relate to examinees' real-world German communicative abilities. Caveats regarding the…

Responding to foreign language learners' affective needs may help enhance learners' success in Japanese. American students face many linguistic and psychological barriers when learning Japanese. The article examines such affective variables as anxiety, risk taking, and motivation as significant contributing factors for differential success in…

Discusses whether the proficiency approach to teaching Arabic, which is now advocated, is really functional enough to suit true needs of students, and whether the debate concerning proficiency is becoming so polarized as to make impossible real discussion of the issues. Trends and changes that have occurred in the Arabic language over the decades…