A description is given of three studies on the effects of teacher clarity upon student achievement. Three low inference variables of teacher clarity--vagueness terms, mazes, and additional unexplained content--were selected for study. Vagueness terms are words or phrases indicating approximation, unclarity, or lack of assurance. A maze is defined…

Pronunciation teaching of the segmental aspects needs to be balanced with the inclusion of learner awareness of stress, rhythm, intonation and meaningful production. Yet many formats for pronunciation teaching do not place these skills and an awareness of the suprasegmental features in either a communicative format or a specific speaking…

Some questions concerning foreign language learning and research topics are considered. One discussion question is why education and speech communication research has neglected the special case of second language communication as a source of information on the communication process in general. The need for research into the functional, operational…

A description is given of experiments involving the standardization of aspects of oral fluency testing. Oral fluency is understood to imply a "communicative competence" requiring an ability to formulate accurate and appropriate utterances of more than one sentence in length. Throughout the test emphasis is laid on ease of application and…

Even though modern methods of teaching emphasize listening and speaking, seldom are students of English tested in a standardized way on their ability to communicate through these skills. Many people learn to communicate well enough to conduct daily affairs in a new language, yet are unable to read, write, or speak any educated form of it. They are…

There is increasing debate over the unidimensionality of the construct "drive" in theories of behavior. The earliest drive theory postulated a simple entity which increased or decreased as a function of external or internal stimulation and affected behavior monotonically. Duffy and Malmo have recently hypothesized that the effects of…

The goal of integrating coping skills into the English as a second language (ESL) curriculum is to enable adults to use language in the real world. To accomplish this goal, two kinds of input are needed: (1) comprehensive knowledge about the workings of American English, and (2) accurate information about the language contexts in which adults need…

A new program developed during 1975-76 as part of the English as a second language curriculum at the University of California, Davis, is designed to enable students to listen to their oral English for pronunciation and grammatical self-correction. Students are aided in identifying and correcting their errors through tape-recorded sessions with a…

Research findings regarding speech errors made by second language learners and affective reactions to native speakers as a basis for error correction are considered. A research design is presented for investigating sensitivities to 15 types of grammatical errors typically made in speech by American learners of French. Findings of the research are…

Criteria for developing an advanced conversation course for second language learners are examined. It is suggested that the teacher needs to approach the development of the course with an awareness that most students enrolled will probably be suffering from an acute lack of self-confidence when conversing in the target language. The proposed…

Second language learning in small groups with creative student-centered activities is discussed. A rationale for teaching for communication is offered, along with classroom management procedures that encourage communication in the target language and some communication activities that have been successfully implemented in the classroom. Three…

One of the main tenets of the audio-lingual theory which has dominated most of our thinking in foreign language teaching methodology for the last fifteen years is that students should never be put in the situation of having to say something for which they have not already learned the patterns. Is the language laboratory really useful, however, in…