A system for classifying (coding) translations of sentence-length or similar material is presented and illustrated with codings of entries in the "Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Classical Quotations." Problems in coding are discussed, relating especially to intertextuality, intention, and ownership. The system is intended for pedagogic use, and…

Examines the nature and structure of idioms and idiomatic language and offers suggestions for teaching them. Topics addressed include the relationship between idioms and erroneous language, idioms' appropriateness in context, proverbs, and metaphors. Some exercises are included. (Author/MSE)

A study investigated the features of discourse in the written student-teacher interaction in dialogue journals. It was assumed that such an activity would encourage the negotiation of meaning and roles, and that the data would provide evidence of that negotiation. Data were drawn from 32 journals written by 16-to-18-year-old students in an Italian…

This paper describes a study which examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction in English intonation in listening tasks in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course taught to four Japanese high school students. The students' exposure to real-world English listening situations had been limited, and the majority were focusing more on…

An approach to teaching expository writing in English as a Second Language (ESL) to native speakers of Chinese is offered. It is based on a comparison and classification of rhetorical patterns in the two languages. Chinese rhetoric contains a wide variety of methods of presentation, including both direct and indirect, or metaphoric, forms. It is…

Four French language instruction ideas are presented, including an exercise in using articles and possessive and demonstrative adjectives; student production of radio programs; a lesson in writing postcards to friends; and a young children's game focusing on recognition and assimilation of written words and structures already learned orally. (MSE)

Four ideas for classroom French instruction are described, including a lesson in the use of indicative and subjunctive moods; creative writing exercises; a comparison of the text styles of letters with different purposes; and a beginning French geography lesson. (MSE)

A study investigated the interpersonal dynamics occurring in an ungraded bilingual education class of native Spanish-speaking students in an ungraded primary classroom (with 10-12 students each from grades one, two, and three) at Garamond Elementary School in a working class community southeast of Los Angeles, California. Six classroom sessions…

The use of computerized concordances in second language teaching is discussed, drawing on the results of a study undertaken in a teaching seminar. In the study, a corpus of 401 English sentences from electronic mail (e-mail) texts written by American pupils to a German school were analyzed with an electronic concordancer and compared with 326…

A study investigated the effectiveness of teaching preservice elementary school teachers to adopt the learner role during application of a literature discussion instructional strategy. Analysis of two discussions by 24 teacher trainees indicated that the teachers did apply the target strategy from the learner's perspective as it was taught to…

The handbook, arising from a research project on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching, presents ESL teachers with ways to use authentic English as a teaching tool in the classroom. The purpose of this book is to: examine the connections between current theories of spoken discourse analysis and classroom practice; encourage language…

A study of the dialogue journal writing of six sixth grade students of English as a Second Language (ESL) examines the interaction with the teacher. The subjects had been in the United States for less than a year, and came from Korean, Vietnamese/Chinese, Burmese, and Italian language backgrounds. Data for the study were drawn from the students'…

By comparing the language performance of native speakers of Mandarin Chinese and English to English second language performance across similar speech events, a study suggests a methodology for discovering potential areas of pragmatic transfer. Subjects were 6 native American English speakers and 12 native Chinese-speakers, 6 using Chinese and 6…

This paper contends that many of the difficulties students of Chinese have in reading comprehension are directly related to their level of understanding of Chinese language and culture, and that these difficulties could be alleviated by providing students with knowledge about the value system, social customs, formation of Chinese characters and…

An instructional module designed to help prepare college-level teaching assistants (TAs) for their duties in second language instruction is presented. The module focuses on the teaching of oral language skills in a beginning or intermediate language course. The first section examines features of spoken language, including the range of uses of…