Global English is under contestation. Although some consider lingua franca English (LFE) as a neutral medium or code that does not belong to any specific culture or nationality, others see the deceptive nature of this linguistic globalization. Along with Spring (2007/this issue), they see global English as embodying partisan interests and values.…

This report describes a program for improving motivation in eighth grade, first-year Spanish classes in a growing middle and upper class, predominantly Caucasian suburban community of northern Illinois. Survey results confirmed that students' enthusiasm for foreign language study decreased dramatically once the novelty of learning Spanish had worn…

Issues in second language teaching methodology are discussed in light of the concept of proficiency as defined in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines. It is proposed that rather than think in terms of identifying one optimal methodology for all second language learners, the profession should be…

Promising practices in the adult English-as-a-Second-Language literacy field that were observed by researchers during site visits are described in this digest. These innovative programs provide a social context for literacy, allow learning through hands on experience, and use learner-generated materials. Some programs may use the native language…

Some of the major reading and writing practices currently in use in adult English-as-a-Second-Language programs are described in this digest. Reading activities for such learners are similar to those used in adult basic education classes. At the beginning level, students dictate stories to the teacher or give an oral account of an experience.…

Originating from a concern with the quality of teachers' guides that accompanying English language course books, this report examines the amount of importance they are accorded and the type of information they contain. The first section discusses the demands that the guides' assumptions make on the teacher in terms of the teacher's knowledge, the…

These four issues of the bibliography, entirely in German, contain 860 citations of journal articles, books, monographs, and reports of research on all aspects of second language teaching and learning. Many of the works cited are in English, French, and Spanish. An introductory section describes the citation format and contains lists of journals,…

In order to become empowered and autonomous writers, students need to learn self-evaluation techniques to help them revise their writing instead of simply editing it. Basic writers and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writers especially need concrete aids that can guide them, at least in the initial stages of learning, to write in a mode in…

In choosing to have students use the computer in unstructured writing activities, the instructor may prefer to cover basics during classroom sessions and have students use technological aids to expand on these basics in outside assignments. Out-of-class composition assignments force students to create with these basics on their own. Students use…

It is suggested that contrastive linguistics, the systematic comparison of two languages, be considered in the preparation of instructional materials and as a choice of teaching methods and techniques for training tranlators and interpreters. The contrastive analysis hypothesis suggests that the major source of errors committed by learners of a…

This article summarizes four journal articles on language teaching appearing in the American pedagogical language journals, "The Modern Language Journal,""English Language Teaching Journal," and "TESOL Quarterly." The purpose is to give an indication of what kinds of articles can be found in journals outside Japan.…

Exercises are linguistically or content-oriented. There are three levels of silent reading: orienting, cursory and total. In designing exercises, emphasis should be placed on cursory reading. (Beginners have to concentrate on "total" reading.) Hints are given in acquiring skill in summarizing and excerpting. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

A language proficiency survey showed the inability of French students to be creative in a second language learned in high school. The article reviews current foreign language teaching methods in the French national school system and suggests that narration might be an effective exercise and that language instruction should begin at the elementary…

Clues provided by redundancy in composition forms can help ESL students recognize and relate ideas in advanced reading. Points to cover in teaching are reading for ideas, clues in the formal environment and clues in idea development. Rules, examples and suggestions for application are discussed. (CHK)

This article describes a university language and research program which focuses on the instruction of modern languages to non-language majors. The facility, personnel, teaching methods, and evaluation procedures are described. (Text is in French.) (CLK)