Speech perception research is reviewed and organized around issues relevant to second language acquisition. Issues discussed include the concept of a critical period for speech perception as well as the effects of linguistic training and/or linguistic experience on speech perception. Speech perception in bilinguals, the relationship between speech…

A study explored the relationship between the second language (L2) production of the Spanish stop consonants /p/ and /b/. Subjects were native English-speaking students enrolled in an undergraduate Spanish phonetics course. Data were collected on their production of Spanish /p,b/ in sentence context, and on their perceptual boundary between the…

Research concerning the success factors in language immersion education is reviewed, focusing on five major schools of thought. First, the traditional model for immersion research, implemented in a Montreal (Canada) suburb is examined. Then three studies of the influence of affective variables in immersion program success are examined, and it is…

A discussion of the process of learning to write in a second language (L2) looks at how theory and research on first language (L1) composition and L2 acquisition influence the study of L2 composition. Three perspectives are examined: (1) the approach to writing that focuses on the text itself, including comparison of native L1 and L2 rhetorical…

Few studies have approached second language teaching from a neurolinguistic perspective. An exception is Marcel Danesi's educational construct of neurological bimodality, an attempt to find a neurological foundation for classroom language instruction. The underlying hypothesis is that there is a natural flow of information processing from the…

The meaning versus form (or fluency versus accuracy) debate is no longer a discriminating factor among teaching approaches because meaning and form are assumed to be essential for learning. A successful pedagogical task accomplishes two things: (1) focuses students' attention on the structure of the language by demonstrating that language form…

A study investigated whether proficient non-native speakers of English teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) modify their speech when addressing less proficient students, as has been observed among native teachers of English as a Second Language. Fourteen Peruvian teachers' classroom interactions were recorded. Comparisons were drawn…

A study examined the varying degrees to which learners of Spanish at the intermediate and advanced levels use paragraph-like structure in their answers during a simulated oral proficiency exam. Subjects were 24 students preparing for the Spanish Texas Oral Proficiency Test. Data from simulated oral proficiency interviews were compared to a model…

This paper proposes a synthesis of instructional methods from both traditional/explicit grammar and learner-centered/constructivist camps that also incorporates many types of metaphors (abstract, visual, and kinesthetic) in order to lead learners from declarative to proceduralized to automatized knowledge. This integrative, synthetic approach…

Using a format of frequently asked questions about teaching foreign languages using drama, this article explores the evolution of this approach, its benefits and drawbacks, and the various theatrical activities that can be used to teach languages. After describing how drama fits into the communicative approach to language teaching, the article…

This document consists of the four issues (Spring 1988, Fall 1988, Fall 1989, Fall 1990) of Volume 1 of the serial publication "Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education" (TPFLE). TPFLE is the official journal of the Foreign Language Education Program of the University of Texas at Austin. These four issues contain 6, 8, 5, and 7 papers each,…

The research in this paper was motivated by continuing Soviet claims that the country's language problems have been solved. First, the nature of Soviet nationality policy is reviewed, and then available evidence and the question of linguistic and cultural assimilation of the non-ethnic Russian minorities through Russian language and culture are…

The Spanish psychological verb construction seems to be especially difficult for native English-speaking learners to acquire. Since some of the most common Spanish psych verbs, such as "gustar" (to please) and "encantar" (to delight), require a grammatical structure that is different from that of the English verbs frequently…

This paper explores inquiry cycles as an innovative curricular framework in whole language foreign language classes. Whole language is an educational philosophy that advocates and espouses student-centered, activity-based learning. The inquiry cycle is a holistic method of teaching based on a question or set of questions that students themselves…

This study examined data elicited by the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), which was administered to first-year, advanced learners of French at the University of the West Indies. The questionnaire looked at students' attitudes regarding the difficulty of language learning, foreign language aptitude, the nature of language…