Knowledge of what constitutes development toward language maturity in school-age children should enable us to make substantial improvements in the language component of the curriculum. (Author)

When the ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher discovers the reasons underlying student errors, error correction will become a positive learning experience for both student and teacher. (CFM)

This book is a comprehensive treatment of the literature on second language acquisition in childhood, viewed in terms of contemporary process models. After a general introduction on bilingualism in society, six major topics are considered: first-language acquistion, language acquisition and learning in childhood and adulthood, simultaneous…

The purpose of this paper is to present a practical model for determining and depicting language dominance, given the general nature and needs of bilingual education programs in the United States. The author proposes the use of parallel tests of aural ability to indicate initially the language dominance of children who, for example, are otherwise…

Argues against the teaching of foreign languages to children under the age of ten, basing conclusions on empirical and theoretical evidence. (CLK)

Discusses the special responsibility of early childhood educators for developing language acquisition skills in the young child. (BR)

This article discusses the now established" fact that one aspect of language development in native English speakers is the increasing ability to embed larger and larger numbers of sentence consituents and considers its implications for second language acquisition. (FB)

The translation process is discussed from these aspects: (1) Natural translation by bilinguals, explained by a discussion of research in translation skills among bilingual children, (2) the requirements for good professional translation, and (3) a description of the curriculum at the University of Ottawa's translation school. (AMH)

This paper attempts to sum up, in non-technical terms, the essential differences between the acquisition of a first and a second language. It represents a conviction that a large number of the key concepts of TESOL can be drawn out of this type of comparison. The opening paper presented to the Pre-Convention Study Groups at the TESOL Convention,…

Reports on research into the early semantic-syntactic utterances of deaf children as compared to those of learning children. It is suggested that differences in acquisition patterns may be attributable to the pedagogical nature of deaf language acquisition. (Author/AM)

This paper outlines the details of a series of lessons for teaching the passive voice to speakers of other languages. A specific plan entitled "From Repetition to Meaningful Use: A Suggested Progression" includes a series of yes/no questions and progresses both from teacher-directed conversation to student-student conversation and from the reality…

The thesis of the paper is that the process of learning a second language, if successful, is the same as that of learning a first one. The paper discusses various objections that have been raised against this thesis, and it discusses the considerable body of research which explores it. It examines the appropriateness of the research data for…

A conversation with the author's 7-year-old son who is just beginning to learn French serves to illustrate the concept of communicative competence and its implications for second-language teaching and testing. Communicative competence is defined as the ability to engage in spontaneous, interpersonal transactions, in contrast to linguistic…