Most studies on task-based language learning focus on the oral performance of advanced level learners of English as a second language (ESL), while little research examines the written performance of beginning language learners in non-ESL contexts. This exploratory study aims to address this gap, by examining the effect of pre-writing tasks on…

Few systematic efforts have been reported to develop higher degree by research student skills for writing publishable articles in science and technology fields. There is a need to address this lack in the light of the current importance of publication to science research students and the high supervisor workload entailed in repeated draft…

This article calls for a rethinking of pure process-based approaches in the teaching of second language writers in the middle school classroom. The author provides evidence from a detailed case study of the writing of a Korean middle school student in a U.S. school setting to make a case for rethinking the efficacy of classic process-based…

Previous research on the effects of peer-editing in bringing about language development generally examined the linguistic performance of only a few students and did not focus on specific language errors nor used a control group. To counteract these limitations, this study used a pre-test/post-test comparison group quasi-experimental design to…

Argues that if the study of language is to become important again in the teaching of writing, it will be through an expanded notion of rhetoric that understands language as the site of struggle over socially produced meaning. (RAE)

In the last 20 years, research on language has gone from an area that specialists in composition and rhetoric took quite seriously to one that specialists now pay little attention to. This shift can be accounted for because (1) some teachers appear to have given up on using any insights from linguistic analysis in their teaching of composition;…

The suspicion that some second language learners' problems in reading can be attributed to a lack of literacy in general rather than to a lack of fluency in English per se motivated the present study. The hypothesis suggests that readers learn literacy only once and that a lack of literacy in one's first language can be more of a barrier to…

An exercise in the evaluation of errors in Spanish (second language) composition is reported. The exercise, based on J. M. Hendrickson's "discovery" approach to learning, concerned correction of three error types: lexicon; grammar; and spelling. Subjects were 13 native English-speaking university students in a Spanish language program. In the…

The following papers on English as a second language (ESL) are collected here: (1) "The Joy of Language" by H. Douglas Brown, (2) "Hats Off to the TESOL Classroom Teacher" by Darlene Larson, (3) "Two Languages in One Brain: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics" by Lev Soudek, (4) "Do Techniques Derived from…

Essays on Spanish linguistics and related topics are dedicated to linguist Tracy D. Terrell. An introductory section gives a brief biography and a list of his publications. Essays include: "The Natural Approach to Language Teaching: An Update" (Tracy D. Terrell); "Two Mad, Mad, Mad Worlds: Notes on Natural Approach and the Writing…

Noting that issues surrounding grammar instruction are a source of controversy within the English language arts curriculum, this concept paper examines the usefulness of formal instruction in naming parts of speech, diagramming sentences, naming types of phrases and clauses, and naming sentence types. Following an introduction that defines…

In response to Stephen D. Krashen, Patsy M. Lightbown and Manfred Pienemann argue that comprehensible input will not always be sufficient to bring about developmental change or increased accuracy in the learning environment. Krashen replies that the research shows that effects of direct instruction are typically short lasting and do not become…

Fourteen conference papers on classroom techniques for second language teaching are presented, including: "Cooperative Learning at the Post-Secondary Level in Japan" (Steve McGuire, Patricia Thornton, David Kluge); "Shared Inquiry Fosters Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Students" (Carol Browning, Jerold Halvorsen, Denise…

The study was designed to test the effects of a limited amount of sentence-combining practice on the syntactic development and overall writing ability of foreign students. Participants were freshmen studying English as a second language during an eight-week period. Twenty-four students were divided into a control and an experimental group. The…

This study analyses specific written discourse production in which NNSs' usage of English tenses and voice appears to be dramatically different from that of NSs. The data for the study narrowly focuses on a small number of verb phrase features, such as tenses, aspects and the passive voice, examining how they are presented in writing instruction…