This study compares the willingness to communicate (WTC) of Canadian Anglophone and Francophone students to measures of their self-assessed, multiskilled second language proficiency and strategy use before and after a short-term intracountry bilingual exchange experience. The central question is whether a student's WTC exists before an opportunity…

For decades there have been linguists who proclaimed the significant role of kinesic expression in carrying the meaning of spoken language (e.g. Efron, 1941; Birdwhistell, 1952; Kendon, 1972). Drawing on such studies, there have also been pioneer studies of gesture in second language learning and use (McNeill, 1992; Gullberg, 1998, 2006), and…

Intercultural language learning gives a place to the use of both the target language and the learners' first and/or other language(s). There is a need to develop a balance, however, as each language contributes differently to learning. The purpose of thinking about language use in the classroom is to develop an informed approach to using as much…

This article examines, from a broad historical perspective, how Australia's negative "linguistic culture" has shaped languages education in our country. Language teachers' pre- and inservice training does not often address this topic. Yet to be able to anchor one's profession within a historical, sociocultural, and political perspective,…

Filled with examples of French slang and colloquialisms, this article notes the importance of learning such everyday language to speak French correctly. (CHK)

A major change in British language teaching is in emphasizing the use of language; knowledge of rules and vocabulary is insufficient if a student cannot communicate. This paper discusses five ways in which this idea is being introduced: in language functions, discourse, testing, reading and teaching in the foreign language. (CHK)