What matters about an educational activity is how learners respond to it. This article examines a program concerned with the learners' needs, through the expression of learners' own meanings, and advances the concept of investigative research as a suitable vehicle for more autonomous learning, through a change in learner status. (26 references)…

Raimes' article on the history of second-language approaches to teaching writing is reviewed and criticized for its failure to support a social context approach to teaching writing. Raimes' response to Canagarajah supports her original position. (11 references) (LB)

Prabhu's writing about ways in which second-language students, teachers, and specialists influence events that take place during classroom lessons is critiqued. It is suggested that greater recognition of second-language theorists and pedagogical specialists is in order. Prabhu acknowledges the suggestions. (42 references) (LB)

Five new strategies are proposed to help language teachers understand statistical studies. Each strategy is discussed with appropriate tables, figures, and examples drawn from recent articles of the "TESOL Quarterly." (18 references) (Author/LB)

Two brief articles report ways that technology is being used in the language classroom: through media such as closed-captioned video, optical disc technology such as CD-ROM, and interactive videodisc systems and through improved instructional strategies such as collaborative learning and computer-assisted instruction. (three references) (LB)

An argument for the role of a structural syllabus as a means to promote "gradual mastery" of implicit second-language knowledge is refuted. The author responds with further discussion of the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge. (Contains 13 references.) (LB)

Using Zahorik's framework, which classifies conceptions of teaching into three categories (science/research, theory/philosophy, and art/craft), this paper reviews different conceptions of second-language instruction prevalent in the English-as-a-Second-Language teaching field. The aim is to shift the focus of discussion from behavior/activity to…

It is argued that the frequent model shifts in the field of second- and foreign-language teaching have not resulted in significant progress in language teaching. Advocates of the new task-based syllabus must demonstrate its greater effectiveness over more conventional approaches. (Contains 84 references.) (Author/LB)

Several points regarding the distinction between second-language theory and practice in professional and public discourse are discussed, including theorists are rarely full-time teachers; theory tends to be imported from other disciplines; discourse tends to be authoritarian and prescriptive; and it underestimates institutional, political, and…

Questions about language classroom life are addressed that can be illuminated by current research findings on second-language learning and teaching, including first language and cultural adjustment; practices that emphasize learner comprehension; strengths/limitations of classroom management strategies; pronunciation accuracy; and class…

Arguments for students' use of their first language as well as English in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom are reexamined. Pedagogical and political aspects of ESL instruction are noted. (LB)

In a study of instructional actions and decision making, videotapes and interviews of six preservice English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers were used to determine the ways in which teachers received and responded to student input during second-language instruction. The findings highlight the cognitive demands on preservice ESL teachers. (27…

Reviews current literature on coherence in written text, defines coherence in broad terms, and then presents a three-lesson revision unit based on modern coherence principles. In this unit, students "deconstruct" assignment prompts, prepare first drafts, examine another student's first draft, and then revise their essays and examine the revisions.…