The intermediate competence of adult second language learners is qualitatively different from native speaker competence. Learning strategies are constants in the diachronic modifications of learner competence. A study of the acquisition of interrogatives in French reveals limited strategies and the heterogeneity of linguistic models needed to…

Discusses the structuralist and the cognitivist theories of language learning, and emphasizes the importance of practice in second language learning. (AM)

This report presents the results of a research development project to establish a suitable structural framework for the development of a European policy in the field of adult language learning. The report is divided into six sections: (1) the introduction in which the purpose of the work and the operative questions are discussed; (2) a discussion…

The value of language learning theory and research is discussed, and the need for content-related linguistic, sociolinguistic and cultural research, as well as treatment-related research on language teaching and learning, is emphasized. It has been only gradually, from about the mid-sixties and increasingly from the early seventies, that second…

Errors in second language learning are viewed as evidence of the learner's hypotheses and strategies about the new data. Error observation and analysis are important to the formulation of theories about language learning and the preparation of teaching materials. Learning a second language proceeds by a series of approximative reorganizations…

A comparison of three models of language learning: the Creative Construction Hypothesis, the Interlanguage Hypothesis and The Approximate Systems Model. Evidence is provided to support the hypothesis that the third model which incorporates both functional and linguistic analysis describes second language learning and explains why learners progress…

The concept of lifelong learning is discussed, stressing the need to view education not as a finite period, but as a process that continues beyond years of formal schooling. Part of this shift in focus involves recognizing a new meaning for "school," and realizing that education may take place in union halls, management retreats, museums,…

Human development tasks have become an integral part of many humanistic curriculum models. When such activities are employed in the foreign language classroom, several prominent factors can be indentified: on a psychological (affective) level, integrative and transactional motivation; on a linguistic (cognitive/affective) level, active listening…

A workshop on adult basic education (ABE), held at Ohio State University, was organized around the team approach in developing a model learning center, field experiences in the Columbus area, and speeches by special consultants. This document presents these speeches -- on such topics as adult learning, psychological characteristics of ABE…

A heuristic procedure, suggested by Harald Weinrich, for the explication of "text coherence" or "textuality" is examined and critically analyzed. A text model emerging from this critical analysis is then adduced as an example. The concept of "transition" in particular, introduced into the debate by Weinrich, reveals…

The growing emphasis on reading in the foreign language classroom is examined from the standpoint of learning theory, learning strategies, and classroom practice. The reading process in the native language, the origin and application of new learning strategies in foreign language reading, and modifications and revisions in teaching practices are…