In her article, Icy Lee (2019, pp. 524-536) discusses the differences between comprehensive written corrective feedback (CWCF) and focused written corrective feedback (FWCF). She argues that teachers should concentrate more on focused feedback, and highlight and correct only a few grammar errors or issues with organisation, for example, instead of…

In her position article, Lee (2019) compellingly argues for focused written corrective feedback (FWCF) and offers clear guidelines for teachers to shift their feedback approach. As English language teaching practitioners in Chinese universities, we share Lee's view against any unthinking adherence to comprehensive written corrective feedback…

In this article, we take up and expand upon a number of issues of linguistic theory raised in Ursula Ritzau's recent article "Learner language and polylanguaging: how language students' ideologies relate to their written language use" published in the "Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism". The present critique is…

Premature discontinuation rates among second language students in New Zealand are higher than for most other subjects in secondary schools, although this phenomenon has not given rise to a great deal of debate within the NZ language teaching community. In a recent study into premature discontinuation in Christchurch, NZ, the most frequently cited…

Presents case that English is not as unsystematic as it appears nor is it a severe obstacle to learning for both native and nonnative speakers by describing the ideographic, syllabic, and alphabetic writing systems. Suggests teachers need a greater awareness of the nature of the English writing system and how to teach it. (BK)

Discusses the teaching of Chinese characters in the second language context. To demystify the difficulty of learning characters, a few myths that surround them are examined. (Author/VWL)

Basing a manual communication system on written forms of English has two problems: (1) conventional forms of manual communication are based on the wrong modality; and (2) they do not represent English on any level. This causes an imbalance in the word-to-sign ratio in the classroom. (PJM)

This article argues that consideration by teachers of spoken English shows that learners need to be given choices between written and spoken grammars, that the interpersonal implications of spoken grammars are important, and that methodologically inductive learning may be more appropriate than the presentation-practice-production approaches…

Several authors who are both teachers and translators of literary works into English discuss teaching texts and translations. Draws on different experiences in a range of teaching situations: a great-books course, a multi-sectioned honors humanities course, a single-author course, a women's studies course, and a literary and cultural translation…

Presents acronyms and initial-words current in British and American English, explaining their meanings and their underlying unabbreviated versions. (IFS/WGA)

Argues that there is good reason to approach written literature through the oral phase. Essential literary form can best be taught from the oral/aural viewpoint. A creative approach is suggested that can lead to critical appreciation of students' own work. (JL)

The distinction made historically between discourse and conversation is traced to the distinction made between written and oral language. The role of this distinction in the development of second language teaching theory and practice is discussed. 76 references. (MSE)

Reviews four sets of computer-mediated materials for Chinese character learning. These include the following: Write Chinese, Chinese Characters Primer, Animated Chinese Characters, and USC Chinese Character Page. (Author/VWL)

This article discusses French business letter writing, which is characterized by its convoluted and somewhat antiquated figures of speech and suggests that French for business courses offer students the opportunity to discover in such discourse a rich cultural tradition. (six references) (JL)

To provide some perspective on current issues and challenges concerning the role of grammar in language teaching, methodological trends of the past 25 years are reviewed. A proposal for a decision-making strategy is provided for resolving the controversy regarding how much grammar one should teach to language learners. (VWL)