Contrasts two approaches for investigating second-language teaching, arguing that the educational approach, which starts with a pedagogical issue and examines it through pedagogical, theoretical, and empirical sources, is more comprehensive than the linguistic approach, which primarily consists of the applications of linguistic research.…

A feature shown to affect learners' performance on tests of spoken interaction is the gender of the person with whom the learner interacts. To test this hypothesis, 12 Japanese learners were interviewed, once by a man and once by a woman. Comparison of scores indicated that in all but one case the learners performed better when interviewed by a…

Demonstrates the relevance of second language teaching by discussing the English progressive aspect. Suggestions are made for how the teaching of the progressive to beginners of English could be improved. (Author/VWL)

In two foreign language lessons with substantial amounts of undirected student-student talk, postlesson protocols were used to compare learner uptake from teacher and from peers. It is suggested that the validity of free-communication activities in the typical proficiency streamlined foreign language class lies not so much in the peer input they…

Compares the language generated by different kinds of oral communication activities. Areas of comparison include: speed of speaking, frequency of turns taken, and frequency of self-correction. Results indicate that the relative degree to which a student draws on his communicative and linguistic resources seems to be related to the communication…

Explores the feasibility of native speaker performance criterion for validating tests for nonnative speakers. The article analyzes the results of a cloze test administered to 202 Americans and 323 students of English as a Foreign Language. Findings suggest that the efficacy of the cloze procedure is in question more than ever before. (72…

This article compares two English-as-a-Second-Language textbook and curriculum materials trials conducted in elementary and secondary schools of the Sultanate of Oman in the 1980s. Results found that the smaller and more immediate of the trialling processes provided much more usable information for the rewriting of the trial materials. Contains 11…

Attempts to explore, evaluate, and discuss the proposal to introduce English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi elementary public schools. The study compares the EFL achievement of private intermediate school children who studied English in elementary school with the achievement of their counterparts in the same school. (35 references) (GLR)

Reports on a longitudinal study that investigated changes in the beliefs about second language learning of 146 trainee English-as-a-Second-Language teachers at the City University of Hong Kong. First-year trainee beliefs were collected using Horwitz's Belief About Language Learning Inventory and compared with teacher beliefs. Differences were…

A comparison of current views of "teaching methods" or "methodology" from the standpoint of curriculum plan and instructional procedure demonstrates that the views are more complementary then contradictory and that they illustrate approaches to teaching and learning of a foreign language by the researcher, the educator, and the teacher. (Author/CB)

Examines the differences between language teaching in private and public institutions in the same country. The study uses learners' reports on how they are taught and how they learn new English vocabulary as a guide to examine the differences between the two prevailing pedagogical environments in Greece--private institutes of foreign languages and…

Reports on a study of the learning styles of two adult classroom learners of German as a second language. The extent to which, and in what ways, learners' learning style varies, whether one learning style results in more effective learning, and the effect of instructional style on the subjects' learning outcomes are explored. (29 references)…

Compares children who studied English as a foreign language in Hungary with a communication/content-based approach to similar children who studied English with a form-based traditional approach. Findings reveal that the former were slightly more accurate in their production of grammatical morphemes in an oral interview and were more fluent. (three…

A test comparing two groups of beginning learners of English as a second language shows that teaching listening comprehension accompanied by prescribed gestures - "total physical response" - instead of speech production, provides better language acquisition than conventional methods, as well as less anxiety and higher motivation for…

University English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in Hong Kong who participated in popular literature class that emphasized reading for content and enjoyment made superior gains on measures of vocabulary and reading rate compared to students enrolled in a traditional academic skills class. Eighty-eight percent of the literature students felt that…