This digest discusses second language learning strategies--specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques students used to improve their progress in apprehending, internalizing, and using the second language. The first section discusses characteristics of good language learners. The second section highlights research findings that suggest…

This digest presents a technique and activities for using Spanish language ads and public service announcements in the Spanish foreign language classroom. The technique has been used successfully with students in the Galveston-Houston, Texas area. Segments of the scripts of one announcement and one commercial advertisement are provided, as well as…

The purpose of second (or foreign) language classroom research is to answer important questions about the learning and teaching of foreign languages. This kind of research collects data from genuine language classrooms or from experimental settings sometimes established to replicate what takes place in the classroom. Classroom research can focus…

This digest focuses on the application of discourse analysis to second language teaching and learning. It provides examples of how teachers can improve their teaching practices by investigating actual language use both in and out of the classroom, and how students can learn language through exposure to different types of discourse. (VWL)

Foreign language and bilingual educators are in the unique position of being able to bring the world to their classrooms via the telecommunications technologies. Telecommunication is electronic communication over long distances by means of an online computer service, a telephone, a television, a satellite, or other long distance technologies. This…

Language Acquisition is determined by a complex interaction of a number of critical input, output, and context variables. This digest examines these variables and reveals that cooperative learning has a dramatic positive impact on almost all of the variables critical to language acquisition. The examination looks at how cooperative learning…

Development of theories concerning social identity and language learning is explored, and ways in which English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers can support students in this process are discussed. During the 1980s and 1990s, emphasis in research on language learning shifted to its social context. Theorists have begun to find the focus on…

With the focus on language, culture, and communication in the national standards for foreign language learning, foreign language teachers are continually searching for better ways of accessing authentic materials and providing experiences that will improve their students knowledge and skills in these target areas. This digest highlights a number…

This digest reviews what is known about adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners and learning disabilities, suggests ways to identify and assess ESL adults who may have learning disabilities, and offers practical methods for both instruction and teacher training. Topics covered in some detail include identifying and diagnosing learning…

This digest discusses various types of communication disorders, their incidence, the learning difficulties associated with them, the special case of English language learners, and the educational significance of communication disorders. Communication disorders may result from many different conditions such as oral-motor difficulties or…

This digest focuses on the use of dialogue journals for developing the language and literacy skills of students of all ages learning English a Second Language. Dialogue journals are written conversations in which students and teachers communicate on a regular basis. Students write as much as they choose, and the teacher writes back, responding to…

This digest examines critical literacy and discusses why it is important to include it in instruction for adults learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Critical literacy takes learners beyond the development of basic literacy skills such as decoding, predicting, and summarizing and asks them to become critical consumers of the information…

This digest looks at the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages. It is intended as an introduction to the communicative approach for teachers and teachers-in-training who want to provide opportunities in the classroom for their students to engage in real-life communication in the target language. Questions to be dealt with…

Research on adult learning shows that there is no decline in ability to learn as people get older, that except for minor considerations such as hearing and vision loss, the age of the adult learner is not a major factor in language acquisition, and that the context in which adults learn is the major influence on their ability to acquire a new…

This digest discusses a project conducted in the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, that sought to integrate effective practices in literacy education, an empirically based cooperative learning model, and a classroom management model to help teachers develop the English and Spanish language proficiency of their students. The…