The purpose of the study was to examine if there was a significant difference between first-grade English Learners (EL) who constitute a majority (greater than 50%) of the English language mainstream classroom (homogeneous grouping) and first-grade EL who constitute a minority (less than 50%) of the English language mainstream classrooms…

Empathy, or the immediate emotional apprehension of the affective experience of another person, plays an important role in the developmental acquisition of a first language. It is hypothesized that a capacity for empathy contributes to the mastery of the pronunciation of a second language. An operational redefinition of empathic skill as the…

In the first section of this paper, the author analyzes concepts and theoretical issues found to be significant for the topics of investigation but neither sufficiently explicated nor fully incorporated into the studies to be described later. It is felt that much further work needs to be done in order to achieve such goals. In the second section,…

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN LEARNING OR TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IS DETERMINING THE POSSIBILITIES OF PHONEME OVERLAP AND/OR INTERFERENCE BETWEEN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE AND THE TARGET LANGUAGE. ALTHOUGH TRADITIONAL METHODS OF CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS HAVE RELIED ON MINIMAL PAIRS OF WORDS AND ISOLATING THE PHONEMES OF INITIAL OR FINAL…

The present final report covers the various activities of the Center for Research on Language and Language Behavior at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor during the final year of its operation before its closing on January 31, 1971. A prefatory section lists completed projects and the availability of individual reports. Included in this…

The possibility of learning grammatical sequence patterns independently of any association between particular words is demonstrated through the use of substitution drills. (Author/FWB)

THIS ADDRESS, GIVEN AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING (BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1964), PRESENTS A GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE PRESENT SCOPE, ROLE, AND POTENTIAL USE OF RESEARCH IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY, AND MAINTAINS THAT THE BEST RESEARCH IS THAT WHICH IS CLOSELY ALLIED WITH THEORY, AND THE HARDEST TO…

An experiment was carried out at Lewis and Clark College to measure the effect of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on learning German. Three sections of first-year German were formed into a TM group, a TM-like group, and a control group. The TM group received training in TM given by two trained, experienced teachers. The TM-like section received…

A brief review of the history of cognitive style research and a summary of definitions and terminology used by investigators in the area are presented. Most of the research on cognitive style has been motivated by work from three major groups: Witkin and associates; Holzman, Gardner, and associates; and Kagan and associates. Various definitions of…

A cross-section of language research at mid-century from the viewpoint of the psychologist, biologist, and anthropologist is offered in this book bearing on problems of (1) maturation, (2) social anthropology, (3) human biology, (4) experimental psychology, and (5) primary acquisition of speech and language. Five papers delivered at a symposium on…

The purpose of this study was to obtain quantitative nonevaluative data about verbal behavior used by instructor and students in the foreign language classroom. Two beginner and two intermediate German classes were tape-recorded for two weeks, then coded according to patterns. Frequencies of various verbal behavior patterns were analyzed. A…

Four behavioral scientists in a colloquium at the University of Wisconsin discussed various aspects of language learning. Concerned primarily with pre-high-school pupils and addressing their remarks to language teachers, the scientists offered these proposals: (1) language teaching is more effective if taught in a natural setting, (2)…

An analysis of the interrelationship of speaking and reading skills in second language acquisition is the object of an experiment described in this article. The hypothesis tested suggests that written stimuli have a negative influence on the formation of speech habits of beginning students. Objectives, methods, and subject and data selection are…

THIS TECHNICAL REPORT PRESENTS, IN SUBSTANCE, THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF A BOOK IN PREPARATION DEALING WITH STANFORD UNIVERSITY EXPERIMENTS ON PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF THE LEARNING OF RUSSIAN BY AMERICANS WITH NO PREVIOUS EXPOSURE TO SLAVIC LANGUAGES. THE GENERAL AIM OF THE COMPLETED VOLUME WILL BE TO APPLY CERTAIN PRINCIPLES AND RESULTS OF…

Described in this article are five pilot studies that explored the effects of the learning strategy of the total physical response under a variety of conditions using Japanese and Russian with adults and children. Some general conclusions suggest that dramatic facilitation in learning listening skills for a second language is related to acting out…