Examines second language students' perceptions of grammar instruction, with specific reference to writing skill. Discusses issues involved in defining a role for grammar study and presents excerpts from student essays and explanations of classroom lessons. Results indicate that the instruction provided helped to improve students' ability to use…

Describes the results of a questionnaire that reveals Japanese students' attitudes towards reading in English versus reading in Japanese. Points out how students may have distorted views about English and English texts, because of their limited exposure to literary texts. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the importance of validating research data from questionnaires, exploring the difficulties presented in an attempt to validate questionnaire data regarding students' attitudes toward learning English in Japan. (Author/CB)

Examines Singapore students use of extracurricular language lessons. Primary school students take these lessons primarily to obtain high grades, whereas secondary students take such lessons so they can survive in the education system. Students home language and socio-economic situation are key factors in determining whether the student attends…

Describes a survey designed to elicit student's views of what language teaching should be about and tests a number of previously expressed hypotheses: the importance or otherwise of bilingual, bicultural teachers; native-speaker models of English; and cultural content of English lessons in contexts where English is a foreign rather than a second…

Discusses the difficulties faced by English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language students who study at an English-medium university. Focuses on graduate students' oral needs and difficulties at the university of Hong Kong and argues that student needs should be systematically addressed to ensure students become effective communicators. (Author/VWL)

Investigated college students' attitudes and preferences toward error correction in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classroom. A questionnaire was administered to 100 EFL students enrolled in spoken-English classes at a university.(Author/VWL)

This study follows up on a study of the issue of second-language (L2) inner speech as it manifests in mental rehearsal among advanced L2 learners. The purpose of the study was to find out to what extent advanced L2 learners experience inner speech as mental rehearsal and to identify characteristics and functions of such inner speech. (Author/VWL)

Examines Israeli Arab students' attitudes and cultural backgrounds in relation to their reading comprehension of Jewish and Arab stories. States Arab students' motivation toward learning Hebrew as a second language is instrumental. Finds students comprehend texts from their own culture (Arab) better than those from the unfamiliar culture…

This study investigated the role of several sociocultural variables involved in the acculturation process and their relationship to second-language learning and well-being. A causal modeling analysis indicated that an assimilation mode of acculturation was positively related to self-rated English proficiency and preference for responding to the…

Reports on an investigation into the workplace English needs of textile and clothing merchandisers who communicate in the international marketplace. Through questionnaire surveys, telephone interviews, analysis of authentic correspondence, and visits to the workplace, a detailed understanding has been obtained of the communication demands placed…

Investigates the context of writing instruction in a second-year, second-semester German course. Focusing on a children's story project, the researchers describe how writing is taught in the course; the relationship of writing assignments to the rest of the course curriculum; and the perceptions of foreign language writing, including its purpose,…

Reports on a questionnaire relating to French in the primary school sent to foreign language advisors who represented local education authorities in the United Kingdom. Results indicate that in more than half of the authorities represented in the survey, less than 10% of schools teach a foreign language in Key Stage 2. French is the dominant…

Examines methodological issues related to the approach to be used in writing a textbook for foreign language students of Russian. These issues center around practical communication; the treatment of grammar; and the use of the target language, authentic materials, and audiovisual materials. Results indicate that grammar explanations and complete…

Examines whether the "foreign language effect", that is, a temporary decline of thinking ability during foreign language processing, is larger when similarity between a foreign language and a native language is less. The results of two divided-attention experiments indicate that this effect was larger when the native tongue was less…