Terrell's Natural Approach to second-language learning is examined in terms of the degree of acceptance or rejection of his pedagogic views since they were first presented in 1977. Among the issues discussed are his attitudes toward grammar, error correction, and the evolution of educational materials and classroom practices. (205 references)…

Eight volunteers reported their experiences with a self-access center, trying out new machines and materials and producing materials about a specific area of the center. Benefits of their involvement included improving the infrastructure, providing support to other users, and publicizing the available facilities. (Contains 18 references.) (Author)

Describes how plays can be improvised and written by English-as-a-Second-Language students, and how the end-products can be modified in a variety of ways to create new teaching material. (six references) (GLR)

Language teachers are asked to consider carefully what is meant by communicative language teaching. The communicative act is analyzed, emphasizing how individuals involved in communication are sharing their human experiences and how they grow personally as they interact with others through language. (22 references) (CFM)

It is argued that, although significant progress has been made recently in the content, methods, and techniques of foreign language education, inadequate attention is given to the role played by the institutions, literal and figurative, of language instruction. These include program design, classroom environment, teacher education, and teacher…

Describes a project at Australia's University of Melbourne to design and trial a new interactive multimedia package for teaching German to beginners. The package includes an interactive computer-based program and a learner textbook/workbook. The multimedia component comprises dialogs, dictations, and various question formats. Student reaction to…

Recounts one teacher's experience in teaching the concept of childhood and 19th-century German children's books in a fourth semester German course. Outlines the methodology, evaluates the accomplishments of the course, and discusses the problems encountered. The students' familiarity with some of the images, symbols, and experiences shown in the…

Examines the theoretical rationales (universal grammar, information-processing theories, skill-learning theories) for input-based grammar teaching and reviews classroom-oriented research (i.e., enriched-input studies, input-processing studies) that has integrated this option. (Author/VWL)

Discusses two compulsory reading courses offered simultaneously for English language majors in China: Intensive reading (IR) and extensive reading (ER). Discusses how the role of IR has been challenged over the last two decades. Suggests that IR is still a valuable approach but that teachers need to revise their methods and procedures. (Author/VWL)

A study carried out with Sudanese secondary school students on different approaches to grammar instruction indicates that an approach that attempts to approximate learners' strategies can be more effective than the traditional technique based on metalanguage and elaborate analysis. (Author/VWL)

Presents a summary of presentations on the research and best practices for teaching English language learners. A panel of theoreticians and practitioners participated in the public discussion as part of an effort to determine the best way to implement California's Proposition 227. (Author/VWL)

Describes a lesson planning framework that content-based instruction teachers can adapt to their instructional materials, student populations, and classroom settings. Applying the framework to an authentic reading passage, the sample lesson illustrates how teachers can develop activities that supplement the content, increase student access to and…

Reports on the application of a North American system of research writing in a high-intermediate class of English-as-foreign-language learners in Colombia. The system was adapted from a variety of sources representing typical approaches to the introduction of academic research writing at the university level in the United States. (Author/VWL)

Offers a series of reflections on the theoretical bases of language teaching viewed from the perspective of the New Technologies (NT), and proposes a reconfiguration of the pedagogical triangle. In light of the tremendous impact of NT, different ways of treating the four language skills in traditional and virtual environments are considered.…

Focuses on the communicative approach in plurilingual settings and analyzes data from Indian English in the light of the speaker/listener, the task, the context, and other negotiating factors that regulate speech in everyday life. Identifies the complementarity of grassroots English with other Indian languages and its emergence as one of the vital…