This study compares the effectiveness of audio-taped feedback (ATF) with traditional written feedback (WF). Its focus is on the ATF and WF provided to 23 college sophomore English majors at a Taiwan university. Students were also asked at the end of the academic year to evaluate and compare both ATF and WF from their perspective. It is concluded…

Compares the effectiveness of Nihongo-CALI (Japanese Computer Assisted Language Instruction) with non-CALI workbook instruction. Findings reveal that given the same grammar notes and exercises, ongoing intelligent computer feedback is more effective than simple workbook answer sheets for developing learners' grammatical skill in producing Japanese…

Investigates the effects of science students' domain-specific knowledge and language proficiency on local lexical and syntactic processing and on semantic and higher conceptual processing of biology texts written in the students' first and second languages. Results indicate that language proficiency affects lower-level processing and…

The effectiveness of an explicit, systematic reading intervention for first-grade students whose home language was Spanish and who were at risk for reading difficulties was examined. Participants were 69 students in 20 classrooms in 7 schools from 3 districts who initially did not pass the screening in Spanish and were randomly assigned within…

Identifying appropriate evaluation strategies for students who are English Language Learners (ELL) and have a learning disability is of critical importance in today's schools. A lack of sensitivity to the differences in ELL characteristics and those of learning disabilities has often resulted in over-identification for special education services.…

This study investigates whether the generation of exploratory talk in grade seven, second-language science classrooms in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, has a positive effect on learners in terms of their problem-solving and reasoning skills and whether socio-cultural "milieus" (urban, peri-urban and rural settings of schools)…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study measured the level of Basque and Spanish of fifth-graders (n=586 divided among 167 classrooms) in three program models (Basque taught as a second language--Model…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study, similar in design to an earlier study, measured the level of Basque and Spanish of second-graders (n=1,196 from 301 classrooms) in three program models (Basque…

A Canadian study of student orientation (integrative, instrumental, or other) and its relationship to second language learning motivation and sociocultural factors in the learning environment is discussed. The study compared the orientations and stated reasons for studying a second language of over 800 grade 11 students with data on three…

This paper analyzes a study by Fukushima (1990) of the English offers and responses of Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) college students and reports on an experiment designed to address the perceived weaknesses of Fukushima's work. Fukushima's study found that many Japanese EFL learners could not use appropriate levels of politeness in…

Issues related to school instruction in students' heritage or ancestral language are discussed, particularly in regard to dialect-speaking children or children with some degree of competence in the language. The first chapter considers similarities and differences between second language instruction and heritage language education. The findings on…

A study used two auditory tests of reaction time to compare second language learners' and native speakers' detection of ambiguity or acceptability of sentences. The subjects were Finnish learners of English as a second language and native English-speakers. The investigation found that Finnish-speakers' reactions were generally similar to the…

The handbook is a service publication for teachers of French as a second language. Each of five articles addresses a specific issue. "Teaching and Learning Strategies" (Walter A. Lazaruk) reviews the four skills approach used in second language learning. A communication model of teaching, used alongside study of the language itself, is…

The El Paso (Texas) Independent School District's district-wide program in majority-language (English) immersion is examined to determine the source of its success. The program's similarities to and differences from the Canadian immersion model are explored. The program's superior results in comparison with the same district's transitional…

Consisting of four papers, this study examines university entrance examinations in France, Great Britain, and West Germany and compares them to similar tests in the United States on the basis of three subjects: world history, language study, and biology. The first paper, "The Relationship of the Examinations to the Secondary School Age…