This paper provides an overview of English language teaching and learning, specifically as it pertains to teaching English conversational skills in Thailand. The paper examines the shortcomings of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach, the current dominant pedagogical approach in the nation, and explores how the integration of…

This project investigated vocabulary learning from a sociocultural perspective--in particular, the way in which lexical knowledge was mediated in Spanish second language (L2) learners' and native speakers' (NSs') interactions. Nine students who were enrolled in an advanced conversation course completed an oral portfolio assignment consisting of…

This article describes the creation of an intercultural welcoming panel that the authors developed with English as a second language (ESL) students and communication studies (CS) students at a community college. The creation of the welcoming panel is based on their collaborative work with both sets of students over several academic quarters. The…

A discussion of techniques for creating active listening in the French conversation class looks at preconceptions about conversational language classes, the responsibility of each partner in the interaction (speaker and listener), choice of materials for discussion, preparation of classroom presentations, and the teacher's responsibility in…

A course in French-derived Kreol is designed for language learning among Peace Corps volunteers assigned to the Seychelles. The materials consist of 36 lessons on topics of daily communication needs. Lessons contain a story, dialogue, and/or list of expressions, exercises, and vocabulary and grammar notes and translations in the margin. Some…

This guide is designed for the Swahili language training of Peace Corps volunteers and focuses on daily communication needs in that context. It consists of a series of 76 lessons, each containing vocabulary and phrase lists, dialogue, grammar notes, and exercises. Lesson topics include: greetings and introductions; numbers; commands; questions;…

A set of Peace Corps materials for introductory Spanish contains 19 units on aspects of Spanish verbs: the verb "estar"; the present tense of regular verbs; the use of "necesitar" and "ir" with infinitives; "querer,""poner,""tener que" and the infinitive; the verb "ser"; the…

This curriculum guide is designed for the Arabic language training of Peace Corps workers in Tunisia, and reflects daily communication needs in that context. An introductory section describes the materials' organization and competency-based approach, and lists the 28 specific competencies targeted and the constructions taught within each…

The laboratory manual for a course in basic Pashto is designed to accompany a series of tapes and other instructional materials. It contains a variety of written exercises the student is to perform in response to material on the tapes, which provide listening practice on material presented in parallel textbook lessons. An answer key follows each…

A teacher's guide for Wolof is designed for Peace Corps volunteer language instruction and geared to the daily language needs of volunteers. Instructions are written in both French and English. It consists of six chapters, each containing sets of phrases for specific situations, supplementary expressions for use in rural areas, a dialogue on the…

The course in basic Pashto consists of seven units, each containing five lessons. Lesson topics include informatioh about the Pashtuns, classroom communication and behavior, greetings, telephone use, visiting someone's house, giving personal information, conversation skills, giving and getting directions, discussing everyday life, the seasons,…

The textbook for a course in basic Pashto contains seven instructional units, each consisting of five lessons. Each lesson contains a list of objectives, a review of previously learned words and sentences on which the new lesson is based, new vocabulary, a dialogue, pronunciation exercises, exercises in sentence structure, activities to encourage…

Because conventional foreign language classroom interaction is not amenable to, and can even undermine, learning of social conversational skills, the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute has created an activity to develop these skills. It involves preparation for and realization of a single event, a party hosted by State Department…

The guide is designed for use in English-as-a-Second-Language instruction at the intermediate level. The activities are designed to be enjoyable and encourage students to interact, but also to be non-threatening to even the most reserved students. The exercises develop strategic conversation skills. Each has three parts: a teacher's introduction;…

The book provides over 1,200 conversation topics for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, grouped into six kinds of conversation activities. An introductory chapter describes the monitored conversation procedure, a classroom technique for recognizing language usage errors and reinforcing the correct form or vocabulary item. Subsequent…