Informal language learning is defined as learning assimilated without the pupil's awareness. (LG)

Contentions that foreign languages are best learned at a young age are refuted by newer research. The amount of time spent studying a language is the most important factor, with older learners more efficient than younger ones. (Available from English Inspectorate, Ministry of Education and Culture, P. O. Box 292, Jerusalem, Israel.) (CHK)

A preprint from a forthcoming pamphlet of the National Conference on Research in English. (Author)

This paper examines the question of aspect in Russian, never fully mastered by the non-native speaker. Definitions are not found to be adequate pedagogical tools; the difficulty seems to stem from the notion of binariness. Perfectivity in verbs stems from the concurrence of two features, rather than a single criterion. (CHK)

Research performed pursuant to a contract with the Defense Language Institute. Complete report of this research is available on request from Defense Language Institute Headquarters, R and S Division, Anacostia Naval Annex, Washington, D.C.; Reference: Final Report -- The Role of Personality Variables in Second Language Behavior.'' (RS)

Because of an increase in opportunities to use foreign languages at home and to travel abroad, foreign language study in American high schools is on the increase. (CK)

The sensitive period as a developmental concept is discussed. Observations are made on various problems involved in attempting to explain adult difficulties with second language acquisition by invoking motivational and input factors. (Author/ NQ)

Article defined the threshold-level as the lowest level of general foreign-language ability to be recognized in the unit/credit system. It further attempted to answer the question of what the learner will need to do in a foreign language through an analysis of verbal behavior as a communicative activity. (Author/RK)

Forty participants who learned ten sentences and who were tested for recall and ability to generate new sentences demonstrated that the closer the sentence order was to natural language order, the better the recall and new sentence generation. (Author/KM)

Studies of motivation as a factor in learning success imply that, in second language learning, low self-expectancy for success leads to a low level of motivation no matter how attractive foreign language programs might be. The belief that there is no causal connection between his or her own behavior and learning success prevents the learner from…

The psychological problem of interference is analyzed and its significance for the instruction of the target language is outlined from following viewpoints: behavioral aspects, the system theory of van Parrerens and Chomsky's model of generative language acquisition. (Text is in German.) (IFS/MS)

A report on a study in which twenty adults were tested for their ability to reproduce accurately the articulatory and prosodic features of three languages in which they had received instruction. The goals were to partially test the "critical period for language learning" and the acquisition of a nativelike accent. (AMH)

Concluding part of a continued article. (SK)

The first "missing link is that between the linguist's rules and the rule component of performance; the second is between a student's competence as expressed in correct performance in the controlled language learning situation and spontaneous performance where selection of language is involved. (Author/FWB)