This article reports the findings of sociolinguistic research investigating the use of second-person singular pronouns in Costa Rica. The study was carried out onsite and involved 132 interviewees from all seven provinces of the country. These subjects reacted to scenarios in which they had to choose their preferred pronoun of use…

Presents an analysis of the structure of a German conversation, detailing the complexity of culturally and situationally appropriate structure and meaning in casual conversational discourse. The pedagogical implications suggested through first-year classroom activities are explored. (23 references) (Author/CB)

This study investigated the patterns of language learning strategy use among 120 female Arabic-speaking students majoring in English at a university in Qatar. Perceptions of strategy use were measured by the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL, ESL/EFL Student Version). The study found that (1) this group of EFL learners featured medium…

A preliminary set of principles of judging the pedagogical utility of proposed grammar rules is offered. The goal is the inclusion in teaching materials of only those rules which are linguistically accurate, pedagogically sound, and relevant to specified instructional objectives. (Author)

Reviews the different categories of native pauses and describes techniques for incorporating them cautiously into the spoken French of anglophones (especially Americans), suggesting that proper pause behavior is actually a definite mark of authentic sounding and well-controlled speech. (Author/CB)

Outlines a unit intended for self-instruction at the beginning level of French. The focus is on particular aspects of French culture. (CLK)

All the irregularities of all common French verbs are reduced to five categories in the "passe simple." This system facilitates learning the tense without memorizing each irregular verb independently. (PMJ)

Analysis of research involving reading comprehension ability in a second language shows that problems with illocutionary force, logical connectors, and modifiers indicate that many students are either unable to draw on a culturally appropriate memory schema for reading comprehension or have preconceived notions about word meaning that prevent them…