Few studies investigate ELT with young learners in China, although conservative estimates suggest 60-million primary school children are studying English; even fewer studies investigate Chinese young learners' L2 motivation. This article reports on a study of English learning motivation among Chinese primary school pupils through analysing…

Young learners' use of instructional games in foreign language learning is not yet well understood. Using games that were part of the learning tools for an online assessment, Jido-Eiken, a standardized English proficiency test for young learners in Japan, we examined young learners' game-playing behaviours and the relationship of these behaviours…

Discusses dictionaries for learners of English as a foreign language and reveals typical problems of syntactic complexity, idiomaticity, and cultural specificity that inappropriate explanations and examples may pose for learners. (Author/VWL)

Although the kind of transactional dialogue used in everyday trade can be of potentially great value, those found in textbooks tend to be of limited usefulness because they are unrealistically long, complex, formal, and descriptive, overuse atypical structures or vocabulary, and assume an understanding of the culture. (MSE)

A discussion of techniques for teachers to best use functional materials focuses on providing practice in recognizing and manipulating stress and intonation variations to produce attitudinally appropriate utterances. Lesson planning ideas for beginner and intermediate levels are included. (MSE)

Techniques of semantic feature analysis are applied to exploration and reinforcement of vocabulary. Students are presented with categories of familiar items and asked to describe their characteristics. The method can be used to elicit sentences, reinforce existing vocabulary, and begin discussion. Sample exercises for several difficulty levels are…

Attempts to identify some features of novels that provide unusual educational and linguistic opportunities for the learner. Some of the difficulties both teachers and students may experience in using novels are examined, and sample materials that have been devised to overcome these difficulties are described. (GLR)

Reading and listening comprehension tasks were combined in exercises using related printed and taped texts. Linking the tasks enables the student to use whichever skill is stronger to boost performance in the weaker skill. The technique is outlined and methods of adapting it to other teacher situations are discussed. (MSE)

The foreign language teaching process depends on making various choices regarding materials, approaches, and activities. This decision-making process is analyzed, the needs behind it examined, and a decision hierarchy developed. A model is suggested for teacher education that incorporates this hierarchy into preservice, inservice, and graduate…

Summarizes some preliminary findings from research into the nature and effect of various discourse modifications by a native speaker to a language learner. These modifications include (1) idiom avoidance; (2) comprehension checks and pauses; and (3) selection of information. An informal experiment gauging foreign students' impression of…