Simulation activities provide opportunities to focus on the individual's contribution, encourage creativity, and build self-esteem. These activities can help develop social skills and understanding of other cultures by fostering attitudes of tolerance and sensitivity. (Examples of simulations are included.) (SED)

Describes practical conclusion of a study carried out in Israel which investigated the potential effects of role play on communicative competence, motivation and underachieving foreign language learners. The discussion focuses on a suggested procedure, prerequisites and limitations, the positive effects of role play, and its educational value and…

Autonomous language learning is justified by three arguments: the ideological, the psychological, and the economic. This paper discusses how teachers can use autonomous learning as an approach to the curriculum as a whole, bridging the gap between public classroom activities and private learning activity, and examining all practices from the…

Discusses how the use of video media as a mode of language presentation influences the definition, purpose, and research agenda of a second-language listening comprehension instrument. Video media is used as an umbrella phrase to describe the cluster of media in which dynamic visual elements are blended with auditory elements to create a whole…

Using common technologies listed in the conversation class, the article suggests a computer-aided language learning (CALL) speaking methodology that is interaction rather than machine centered and outlines ways to ensure the success of speaking activities at the computer. (31 references) (Author/CK)

Investigated what English-language-learning classroom activities tertiary-level learners liked, and then compared these preferences with the activity preferences that teachers thought the learners held. Results show teachers were able to gauge their learners' preferences with accuracy for 54% of the activities, and that there was no clear pattern…

Describes an experiment whose principal aim was to examine how a classroom silent period, devoted almost exclusively to aural comprehension, operates. In the case of the French adult learners of English involved in this study, 60 hours proved to be a satisfactory period. (SED)

Reports Chinese university students views on appropriateness and effectiveness of communicative and non-communicative activities in English-as-a-Foreign-Language courses. Results reveal students' perceptions sometimes surprised their teachers, and students' perceived difficulties caused by communicative language teaching had their source in…

Highlights the importance of the dynamics of the learner group in shaping the second language (L2) learning process, and overviews the most relevant aspects of classroom dynamics. Argues that group characteristics and processes affect any success or failure in the L2 classroom and that teachers could benefit from an awareness of the principles of…