Second language pragmatics are not easily acquired by second language learners for a variety of reasons including negative first language transfer, insufficient grammatical competence, and inadequate instruction. For adult learners living in the second language environment, adequate pragmatic knowledge is essential even for beginning level…

The author is responsible for teaching reading classes and overseeing the reading curriculum at an intensive English program in the United States. The institution strives to make reading fluency a priority in the classroom, but after conducting a basic overview of the literature on the topic, the author realized that the approach could be improved…

This book is unique in bringing together studies on instructed second language acquisition that focus on a common question: "What renders this research particularly relevant to classroom applications, and what are the advantages, challenges, and potential pitfalls of the methodology adopted?" The empirical studies feature experimental,…

Linguistic accuracy plays an important role in the quality of written texts, yet the explicit teaching of linguistic form--particularly grammar--for the purpose of improving learners' writing has generated an ongoing debate. Furthermore, students' voices about their learning are often ignored because they are perceived as not knowing what they…

Several scholars have investigated the strengths and weaknesses of native-English-speaking (NES) and nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) teachers of English as a second language (ESL), but few researchers have explored intensive English program (IEP) administrators' and ESL teachers' perspectives on teacher training and the strengths and weaknesses…

A discussion of computer software evaluation for second-language instruction concludes that it is important to match the purpose of the software with the teacher's goals, have good instructions, receive clear and appropriate feedback, and promote productive interaction with the student. (11 references) (MSE)

Roles and responsibilities of intensive English program (IEP) administrators are discussed. A dozen suggestions for enhancing effective relationships with senior-level administrators and for developing faculty development programs are offered. (Contains 18 references.) (LB)

Research on Arizona State University's intensive English program indicates that the majority of students learned about it through family, relatives, or friends in the local community, not through its extensive overseas recruiting techniques or electronic technology. Local recruiting strategies include local English media features and advertising,…

A two- and three-week Intensive English Holiday Courses held for high school students at Beit Jann Druse village in December and August each year is described that could be adapted to other villages in Israel. (two references) (LB)

This paper presents suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of intensive language workshops designed to upgrade and reinforce the language skills of high school foreign language teachers. Once the decision has been made to organize a workshop, the following steps might be taken: identifying the range of needs and interests of the…

In the comprehension approach to second language instruction, the major procedure is to provide students with comprehensible input, which it is the students' responsibility to understand. The aim is to encourage nucleation of the target language, that is the crystallization of the rule system. Teaching procedures focus on strategies for implicit…

One university professor's use of French comic strips as the focus of an advanced, intensive language course is described. The approach addresses the visual and iconic in the comics as much as the linguistic element. (27 references) (MSE)

A study of the role of audiotape dialogue journals (ADJ) in the second-language classroom examined patterns in form and nature of the conversations and in relationships between participants. Results are reported for two teachers and two students, one Japanese and one Latin American. Structuring such taped conversations is recommended. (MSE)

Curriculum innovations succeed or fail according to the extent to which teachers, and to some extent students, feel that they are meaningfully involved in the process of change. For change to be effective, it cannot be simply imposed from above; rather it depends absolutely on the people who implement it. The innovations described in this book…

Both teacher and student editions of a guide for a tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, designed for students in an intensive English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program at Temple University (Pennsylvania) are presented here. They were intended to provide a content-based tour of a local art museum for university ESL students that ESL teachers…