A study explored the relationship between the second language (L2) production of the Spanish stop consonants /p/ and /b/. Subjects were native English-speaking students enrolled in an undergraduate Spanish phonetics course. Data were collected on their production of Spanish /p,b/ in sentence context, and on their perceptual boundary between the…

The Spanish psychological verb construction seems to be especially difficult for native English-speaking learners to acquire. Since some of the most common Spanish psych verbs, such as "gustar" (to please) and "encantar" (to delight), require a grammatical structure that is different from that of the English verbs frequently…

The paper examines some critical issues regarding the Spanish language proficiency of bilingual education teachers, primarily those from the Spanish-language-origin community. Recent longitudinal studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between sustained native language instruction and student achievement. Because this finding is…

A study attempted to (1) define acoustically the learner's progress in acquisition of a set of phonological features, specifically interlingual differences in the voice onset time of voiceless stop consonants and the number of taps produced when attempting to produce the Spanish phoneme /r/ (trill); (2) determine if and at what stage of…

This paper discusses the roles of the student, teacher, and language researcher in understanding motivation to learn another language. It highlights the socioeducational model of second language acquisition. Although this model considers motivation to learn another language from the student's point of view, other contributors include the teacher,…

A study investigated differences in native and non-native French speaking teachers' patterns of error correction of second-year students' compositions. Subjects were eight university teaching assistants (TAs), four native speakers of French and four non-native speakers. Data were drawn from photocopies of all students' corrected compositions…

A study of communication anxiety in second language learning investigated: (1) the role of four factors (sex, language learning experience, language studied, and confidence) in student apprehension about speaking in the classroom; and (2) students' stated reactions to speaking. Subjects were 101 college students in 4 intact French, Spanish, and…

In a study of the processes used to compose a story, 12 Portuguese/English bilingual adults created narrations for 2 published, wordless picture stories and, while viewing a videotape of their narration, recalled aloud the processes they used in constructing the stories. One study was narrated in Portuguese and the other in English. The narrations…

A study investigated the concurrent validity of the cloze test administered with an essay test to Korean university students. Subjects were 129 students enrolled in English-as-a-Second-Language courses in Korea. A seventh-word deleted cloze test and a descriptive essay test were administered. Analysis of results indicate a significant correlation…

Suggestions are made for introducing students, especially those at the college level, to American short stories. An anthology of stories, chronologically presented, is noted as a useful text. Three approaches for presentation include historical sequencing, grouping according to salient elements of fiction, and grouping by theme. Pre-reading…

A study examined university students' beliefs about the availability and content of Spanish courses designed for heritage speakers. Subjects were 50 students in three classes at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, who were administered a questionnaire on student demographics, prior Spanish language instruction or instruction in…

A study investigated whether the academic writing task surveys conducted at American universities reflect accurately the need for student academic writing skills. These surveys are used as a basis for designing composition courses for both native English-speakers and students of English as a second language. The study is restricted to surveys in…

A study investigated the beliefs about language learning of 204 university students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in Korea. The Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory and a questionnaire eliciting background information were administered to students in Korean. Results, when compared with other studies, indicate some differences in…

A study investigated how content-area professors help graduate students who are nonnative speakers of English improve their discipline-related writing. Foreign graduate students (n=164) were surveyed and found to have writing experience in their disciplines. These students responded to questions about techniques professors used to facilitate…

This article presents an overview of an ongoing initiative to develop, integrate, and evaluate multimedia lessons to enhance listening comprehension in Spanish language classes at the Catholic University of America (District of Columbia). Focusing on the process involved, the two phases of the project that have been completed are examined,…