This article introduces a novel, holistic framework--named Dr. Mosaik--that encompasses explanations of the entire tense-aspect system, while highlighting eight comprehensive rules that explain the main workings of the system. In turn, this provides a limited number of "anchor points" on which to time-efficiently address instruction and…

This article presents a generative analysis of the acquisition of formulaic language as an alternative to current usage-based proposals. One influential view of the role of formulaic expressions in second language (L2) development is that they are a bootstrapping mechanism into the L2 grammar; an initial repertoire of constructions allows for…

This is an account of how one class of English language learners compared and contrasted their language learning experiences with English language teaching (ELT) research findings during a five-week Intensive Academic Preparation course at an Australian university. It takes as its starting point the fact that learners, unlike teachers and…

Examines the role of tension in the process of instructed second/foreign language acquisition on the basis of findings from a comprehensive ethnography of the 7-week intensive beginners' class in the summer French School of Middlebury College. This project completes and challenges the current research paradigm on language anxiety as it shifts the…

Reports the results of an experiment designed to identify and define learning behaviors characteristic of successful adult students in an intensive language program. Findings are interpreted in terms of an information processing model. (AM)

Examines how intensive English programs (IEPs) define and incorporate content-based instruction into their curricula. Using a survey, the study requested basic data about the IEP as well as information about course and content offerings and their success. Findings reveal that IEPs are incorporating content within the curriculum in various ways.…

The association between an attitudinal/motivational factor and the acquisition of French oral proficiency is discussed. Eighty-nine Canadian students were satisfied with the intensive French language program while the 65 Americans were not. The sociocultural background of the student plays a major role in the development of attitudes. (PMJ)

This study investigated Japanese students' perceptions of grammar instruction in the United States. Subjects were six university students in an intensive English course focusing on reading and writing, but also including grammar instruction, and using communicative and interactive approaches. Data were drawn from two student questionnaires,…

This article describes the context and conditions of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs in Quebec's French-language schools and reports on several studies of the intensive ESL classes used in some elementary schools. Research on these programs demonstrates their effectiveness in fostering English language skills and positive attitudes…

This study investigated the extent to which various factors play a part in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students' ability to resolve pronoun-antecedent connections in reading. The subjects were 97 ESL learners with four different native languages (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish) enrolled in the University of Illinois's Intensive English…

Examines the emergence of the present perfect in the interlanguage of instructed adult learners of English as a Second Language. Findings indicate that adding a new inflection in the tense/aspect system requires establishing new form-meaning associations as well as revising existing ones. (44 references) (Author/CK)

A study was carried out of the 15 to 20% of immigrants enrolled in French second language classes in the "Centres d'Orientation et de Formation des Immigrants" (COFI) in Quebec, who learn little or no French after 8 weeks of an intensive course and repetitions of the course. This report presents the data gathered in the course of the…

The success of various French immersion programs in Canada and of one Spanish immersion program for English speakers in Culver City, California, has prompted the author to define "successful" and to attempt to identify ingredients desirable in an immersion program. A tentative 14-point checklist for a successful immersion program is provided, both…

A study investigated (1) whether Japanese learners of a second language have the same learning strategies as other groups previously studied, and (2) whether the experience of studying or living abroad affects learning strategy use. Subjects were 24 Japanese third-year college students, learners of English as a second language who were studying in…

This is the tenth annual issue of the UCLA TESL (teaching English as a second language) workpapers. It includes the following papers: (1) "An Attempt to Model the Role of Cognitions in Language Learning," by R.L. Allwright; (2) "A Comparison of Language Proficiency Tests," by J. Donald Bowen; (3) "Language Study Through…