Since its inception seven years ago, Michigan State University's vibrant Second Language Studies (SLS) Program has grown quickly under the direction of Dr. Susan Gass. Thus far, twelve students have graduated from the program and now hold academic positions in various universities in the United States and elsewhere. In 2011, the department…

Second language (L2) learners of tone languages do not perceive and produce the different tones of the target language with equal ease. The most common explanation for these asymmetries is that acoustically salient tones are the easiest to learn. An alternative explanation is that tones are easiest to learn when they are highly frequent in the…

Language program evaluation is a pragmatic mode of inquiry that illuminates the complex nature of language-related interventions of various kinds, the factors that foster or constrain them, and the consequences that ensue. Program evaluation enables a variety of evidence-based decisions and actions, from designing programs and implementing…

Recent currents in language learning research highlight the social and emergent aspects of second language (L2) development and recognize that learners need opportunities for interaction in meaningful contexts supported by explicit attention to language itself. These perspectives suggest new ways of conceptualizing the challenges faced by children…

The Second Language Studies (SLS) Program was established in 2005 with the express purpose of providing "a firm foundation in the field of Second Language Acquisition and its application to current second language research and teaching" (http://sls.msu.edu). Under the leadership of Professor Susan Gass, the program has grown to include…

Discusses the Bangalore Project in South India and responds to three articles on it, particularly the one by C. J. Brumfit (ELT, 1984). Argues that more information on teacher and learner performance and more explicit and illustrative evidence of materials and methodology are needed in order to evaluate the project accurately. (SED)

Describes the goals and responsibilities of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Liverpool University, including brief biographical sketches of staff members and a listing of research in progress. (CB)

This paper reports on the processes experienced in the development of a language programme in a high school in the western suburbs of Sydney in 2006 and represents the ideas and views of the two key participants. We consider the different perspectives held by the key participants on the project and how these need to be worked through in order to…

The major emphasis of this bibliography is on Canadian research in teaching French as a second language published since 1967. Important references before that date, as well as selected British and American references, have also been included. Seven subtopics have been established: aims and objectives of second language instruction, bibliographies,…

Argues that the research on language immersion and subject-matter teaching indicates that the immersion approach is a feasible and desirable alternative to traditional skills-based instruction for college-level foreign-language programs. (Author/CB)

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) sees discourse as a form of "social practice", in which language use is seen at the same time as socially influenced and influential. Another characteristic of CDA is that it is engaged and committed; it intervenes in social practice and attempts to reveal connections between language use, power, and ideology. The…

Examines the extent to which research findings from second language and immersion programs--concerning the efficacy of different instructional approaches--are transferable to the context of foreign language learning in British higher education. Data are drawn from a study of German learners exposed to focus on form tuition and focus on forms…

This bibliography lists publications concerned with bilingual education and immersion programs and how they are used in and outside of Canada. In the beginning, an overview is provided of publications from related disciplines that have brought crucial recognition to the fields of bilingual and immersion education. These include: second and foreign…

This study considers whether the outcomes for students who participated in an individualized instructional approach to language learning in intermediate college-level foreign language courses are different from the outcomes for students who participated in a lecture-recitation aproach. A two-treatment group quasi-experimental design was used. The…

The report summarizes a British research project, part of a larger initiative on educational quality, concerning the extent of secondary students' knowledge about the nature of language, native and foreign, alongside development of practical language skills. The main study was an empirical investigation of the teaching of English and foreign…