Electronic language corpora, and their attendant computer software, are proving increasingly influential in language teaching as sources of language descriptions and pedagogical materials. However, few teachers are clear about their nature or their relevance to language teaching. This paper defines corpora and their types, discusses their…

IN ORDER TO DISCOVER IF PUPILS COULD ARRIVE AT THEIR OWN RULES OR GENERALIZATIONS FROM DRILL (THUS SUGGESTING THAT TIME BE SPENT MORE PROFITABLY IN ADDITIONAL PRACTICE THAN IN EXPLANATION), FOUR DIFFERENT METHODS WERE TESTED. FOUR FRENCH AND FOUR SPANISH HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES WERE SUBJECTED TO EXPLANATIONS (1) BEFORE THE DRILL, (2) AFTER THE INITIAL…

The relation of the linguistic sciences to language teaching and language learning is explored. Part 1 discusses linguistics, phonetics, and their place in the description of language. Relations between language and the people who use it are examined, as well as the place of comparison and translation in the acquisition of a second language. Part…

Despite similarities between Hindi and Urdu and mutual intelligibility, at least on the spoken level, slight grammatical differences between the two languages do exist. The treatment of gender provides an example of such differences. Explanation of the actual differences in gender usage can be based on a synchronic, linguistic level as well as on…

Presents the results of a questionnaire (in appendix) that asked 1,388 students to identify their perceptual learning style preferences. Analyses of the questionnaires indicated that nonnative speakers' learning style preferences often differ significantly from those of native speakers. Many variables are related to differences in learning styles…

Data collected from both native and non-native speakers' linguistic performances in five request and seven apology situations revealed a systematic difference in length of utterance in speech acts by non-native speakers as compared to native speakers. Deviation from native norms of utterance length can cause pragmatic failure in several ways.…

Reviews research regarding reading strategies used by Hebrew-speaking students to comprehend English for specific purposes texts, focusing on verbal report techniques in: developing a taxonomy for reading strategies; checking the appropriateness of mentalistic measures for different populations; determining similarities between first-language and…

The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of overall, selective, and no error correction on the quality and quantity of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' writing. A total of 107 secondary school students in 3 classes participated in this study. These classes were randomly assigned to the three treatment conditions: overall…

A study investigated the effects of question type (multiple-choice, wh-questions, and cloze items) and question preview on assessment of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) listening comprehension. Subjects were 90 freshmen at a Chinese university, randomly assigned to two groups. One was administered a question preview before listening to a…

Charts the vocabulary evolution of three groups of students in Brussels' kindergartens: (1) originally monolingual Dutch-speaking children; (2) originally simultaneously bilingual children (Dutch/French); and (3) young successive second-language learners (French at home, Dutch in kindergarten). (23 references) (Author/CK)

A French teacher's journal notes about his experience as a student in an intensive English course in a foreign country are presented. The notes address aspects of the language learning experience, including unfamiliar cultural context, intrusion of the new language into daily thought, resistance, translation, interference, and motivation. (MSE)

Second language learners of English responded to a questionnaire requiring them to identify the antecedent of a reflexive pronoun. Responses were compared to those of a native speaker control group, and first language transfer and recapitulation of first language acquisition were examined. (24 references) (Author/OD)

A study used compressed speech to observe aural processing strategy differences between native English-speakers and high- and medium-level learners of English as a second language. Quantitative and qualitative differences in recall among the three groups were found. (Author/MSE)

Measurement of quality of phonological input of 20 Saudi Arabian teachers of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) indicated teachers trained in English-as-a-Second-Language environment showed far fewer incidences and types of phonological error than those trained in EFL environment. Little difference was found among teachers who taught in…

Presents the results of the second year of a four-year longitudinal evaluation of a partial French immersion program in Cincinnati, Ohio, that includes children from lower socioeconomic group and ethnic minority group (Black) backgrounds in addition to majority (White) and middle-class students. (17 references) (GLR)