A course given to help German teachers of English master English phrases used frequently in the classroom is described. It was found that initial contextualization followed by language laboratory work enabled teachers to assimilate phrases best. (CHK)

Examines the use of "then"/"after that" by Vietnamese and Chinese learners of English as a Second Language, suggesting that this temporal adverb poses as much of a learning challenge as morphological means of temporal reference. Shows that a learner's usage is monitored by a looser notion of salience, which emerges from the…

Describes a nine-stage approach, involving a slide program and the language lab, that puts students in authentic situations and provides them with an alternative series of protocols, verbal strategies, and syntactic transactions. (Author/RM)

Examined the influence of classroom learning environment on second language intrinsic motivation of young foreign language learners in a predominantly monolingual context. Results showed that a predictable learning environment, moderately challenging tasks, necessary instructional support, and evaluation that emphasized self-improvement, and…

Although English will continue to spread, its functions intra-nationally will be reduced and its major role will be that of an international language. This development will influence English language teaching syllabi and material design, creating new demands on language teachers and their preparation programs. (Author/CB)

Uses a detailed qualitative case study to explore the implementation of task-based teaching in three primary school classrooms in Hong Kong. Reviews six issues that were found to impact how teachers approached the implementation of communicative tasks in their classroom. Themes addressed are teacher beliefs, teacher understandings, the syllabus…

Presents questions that those planning TESOL curriculum change might ask before deciding on the objectives of such change in their own contexts. Suggests that answers to such questions can help provide information about how key players (classroom teachers) are likely to experience the implementation of the objectives. (Author/VWL)

Introduces the fundamental characteristics of corpus-based research and illustrates such research with a study of a complex grammatical feature in English: linking adverbials (i.e., connecting expressions such as "therefore" and "in other words"). Shows that corpus-based research is useful even with features that cannot be…

Investigated vocabulary use in the writing of 65 secondary school multi-grade and multi first language intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners at a Greater Vancouver public secondary school. Proposes systematic vocabulary instruction based on teacher-directed interaction and negotiation and psycholinguistic principles of word…

Writing for the BBC World Service "Short Story" Program provides English as a second language students with the necessary conditions for "authentic writing," namely authentic and communicative writing practice, encouragement of language acquisition, and improvement of the teacher student relationship. (CB)

Examines the variations of 17 grammatical variables (verb tenses, voice, and form) within the communicative function of 51 medical English scholarly papers. Three axes of variable distribution are revealed that help categorize the papers as case reports, editorials, or research papers. Pedagogical guidelines for preparation and use of reading…

Discusses the use of PLATO in South Africa as a means of instructing non-English speakers in English so that they will be able to enroll in university courses. PLATO was not particularly effective since its materials were written for native English speakers. (EKN)

Provides examples of student modeling techniques that have been employed in computer-assisted language learning over the past decade. Describes two systems for learning German: "German Tutor" and "Geroline." Shows how a student model can support computerized adaptive language testing for diagnostic purposes in a Web-based language learning…

Investigated the effect of grammatical and discourse features on rater perceptions of writing quality in evaluating foreign language writing samples. Also investigated differences in rating profiles between native and nonnative speaking raters. (Author/VWL)

A total of 318 grade-5 pupils in Swedish schools were questioned in regard to why English is a compulsory subject. Two hundred and one pupils thought that English is compulsory because it is a world language, 94 thought so because it is useful, and 23 thought so because some authority decided so. Contains 22 references. (MDM)