Students' engagement and determination require the use of self-regulated learning strategies to facilitate adequate preparation. This article reports a research study that looks into how eight instructors, who were trained to promote self-regulation, interact with 18 students of a Bachelor of Arts program in English language teaching in Bogotá.…

Describes a million-word corpus for English-Italian translation students. Outlines the design, which makes multiple types of comparisons possible among originals and translations and illustrates how to use the corpus to teach sociocultural insights, discourse-structuring expressions, and lexical patterns. (Author/VWL)

A study examined the production of three speech acts by a small group of Korean learners of English at a high beginning level. In comparing disagreements, requests, and suggestions, it was found that although the students demonstrate the ability to increase the level of politeness used, their disagreements tended to be direct and unmitigated. It…

The distinction between the culture of a country and the culture of an individual is discussed, and its implications for second-language teaching are examined, particularly in the multicultural classroom. This concept is illustrated through use of a French travel and for second-language instruction. (MSE)

Graffiti analysis is an important means of understanding social and cultural realities at a given moment of a community's existence, realities that the media often treat only in generalizations. Comparisons of graffiti between places, periods, languages, and subjects may be revealing. (MSE)

Four aspects of English pragmatics that are often puzzling to students of English as a Second Language (ESL) are discussed and exemplified: certain mechanics (ellipsis; blended words; a-grammaticality); vague superordinates (generic verbs such as "get,""let,""do,""be,""have"; preposition with metaphoric extension such as "up,""in,""off,""through";…

Discusses the description of English discourse for teaching purposes, drawing on new information from analysis of CANCODE (Cambridge/Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English). Concludes that language teaching should be based on regularities and patterns, not rules, and that exposure to real, informal language of native speakers, with its…

The learning activities contained in this booklet are designed to help students of Spanish learn to use Spanish personal names approximately in a variety of situations. The first section outlines common titles of address for men and women, lists popular feminine and masculine first names, discusses compound names, lists common Spanish family…

A collection of articles on dictionaries for advanced second language learners includes essays on the past, present, and future of learners' dictionaries; alternative dictionaries; dictionary construction; and dictionaries and their users. Titles include: "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow; or Vaticinations on the Learners' Dictionary"…

Cultural and linguistic information useful to teachers of native Arabic-speakers in English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual education is offered. This includes background information on geographic, political, religious, and ethnic divisions, stereotypes commonly held by Arabs about Americans and American society, common stereotypes about…

This handbook is designed for teachers, administrators, and other school personnel. It provides an explanation of the sociocultural and linguistic characteristics of Korean-Americans so educators can address their needs more effectively and orchestrate a better teaching environment by understanding and supporting the Korean-American cultural…

A study investigated which experiences helped Japanese learners of English as a second language acquire native-like politeness strategies and how Japanese businessmen perceive the relationship between degrees of indirectness and politeness in Japanese and in English. Subjects were 22 adult males, including 17 native speakers of Japanese working…

A variety of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instructional activities based on the film "Kramer vs. Kramer" are described. The first involves having students identify the characters and their relationships to one another, and at a higher level, information about their characteristics and feelings. A second is an exercise in…

The evaluation reviews the implementation of the "Crossroads Cafe" English language instruction program in Florida, focusing on the program's management, training, and overall effectiveness as measured by its impact on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers and learners. "Crossroads Cafe" is a series of videotape…

The Peace Corps volunteer language training materials for the Moroccan language Tashelheet are designed for group, individual, or self-instruction. An introductory section gives the learner an overview of language characteristics, the materials, and their design. The main section of the materials is divided into two parts. The first contains 16…