Comparison of international and U.S. students' attitudes toward cheating revealed that, although most students rated such behavior as using crib notes, copying from another student's test, and allowing such copying as immoral and wrong, U.S., Arabic, and Spanish differed in their ratings and characterization of such behaviors as cheating. (CB)

On tests of English proficiency, 55 Iranian students studying in the United States scored between levels achieved by Fourth- through seventh-grade native speakers. The subjects indicated that association with Americans and time spent in the United States rather than studying English in Iran contributed to their success in English. (PMJ)

The basis for group discussion in an ESL class is learning English; requisites are interesting topics and stimulating questions. The authors suggest procedures to follow with background information and questioning to direct a lively and educational discussion. (CK)

A method of teaching academic vocabulary to the intermediate to advanced EFL graduate students is discussed. Academic vocabulary includes non-technical vocabulary used in the research process, analysis and evaluation. Criteria for selecting academic vocabulary items are explained. Selected items and sample exercises for each area are given. (SCC)

Observation and comparison of native speaking and English-as-a-Second-Language students' reading patterns, overall reading comprehension, and comprehension of coreferential pronouns revealed that misunderstanding of coreferential ties reflected a misunderstanding of the descriptive phrases to which the pronouns referred. (22 references) (Author/CB)

Language learning is more than linguistic interaction and knowing vocabulary; it involves social interaction and knowledge of mores. This communicative competence is the topic of this paper, which also discusses implications for classroom teaching. (CK)

Analysis of performance evaluations of 233 international graduate teaching assistants found that students who received negative recommendations for teaching assignments had significantly lower Test of English-as-a-Foreign-Language and Graduate Record Examination verbal scores than those who received positive recommendations. (27 references)…

Examines the role of tone choice in the classroom communication of international teaching assistants. Compares the tone choices of native-English speaking and nonnative ITAs during their classroom presentations, finding important differences in both the numbers of tone choices and the way tones are used. (Author/VWL)

This article outlines a plan for developing listening comprehension materials for advanced students of English as a second language, based on formal and informal speech samples of natural discourse. (CFM)

This paper discusses the viability of the communicative syllabus approach in four different language learning situations: (1) English as a Second Language; (2) English as a Foreign Language; (3) English for Special Purposes; and (4) English for the foreign student attending a university in an English-speaking country. (CFM)

Examines the role self- and other-initiations play in providing opportunities for modified output (MO), considered important for successful second language acquisition. Native- and nonnative-speakers of English performed three tasks: picture description, opinion exchange, and decision making. Results showed both self- and other-initiations…

Reports on the progress being made in an attempt to establish a second language acquisition index of development that would gauge a learner's second language proficiency. A project was undertaken involving the analysis of 212 compositions written by university students of English as a second language. (CFM)

Reports on a study of adult learners' use of the simple past tense that showed that past tense acquisition occurs in stages determined by the lexical aspects of verbs. The article also describes a pedagogical approach for increasing accurate past tense use through contextualized examples in authentic texts and focused noticing exercises. (Contains…

Examines whether or not communication strategies (CS) can be taught and suggests reasons for the controversy surrounding the teachability of CS. Also reports on a study of CS training with Hungarian secondary students, the results of which suggest that quantity and quality of learners' use of CS does improve with focused instruction. (Contains 62…

English-as-a-Second-Language university students in a multiple-draft composition setting were found to pay more attention to teachers' comments on preliminary drafts than on final drafts; pay most attention to comments on grammar; and consider teachers' comments helpful overall. Problems with teacher comments and implications of the study are…