Suggests that the European perspective on adult second language learning provides important background information for adapting such instruction for American adults. Factors discussed include: adults' specific learning biographies; motivation; learning styles; individual differences; teacher-student partnerships; language skill development and…

The phonology/pronunciation course of the Canadian government's advanced language training program emphasizes activities which generate student motivation and optimism in overcoming "fossilized" pronunciation (pronunciation highly resistant to change). Activities include: oral reading, feedback, recording of reading, and self-directed…

The usage of technology in adult ESL classrooms needs to be examined as it is creating new opportunities and added challenges. The purpose of the study was to explore how technology was being used in such environment and what factors contributed as supports or hindrances to technology use. Interviews, questionnaires, and observations were used to…

A review of the literature investigated how computers have been used in relation to the teaching of reading over the last 20 years, how effective those endeavors and research studies (mainly conducted at the college level) have been, and what computer instructional programs in the area of reading need to address. Various efforts have been made to…

This paper discusses the use of storytelling as a pedagogic tool in Malaysian kindergartens. By listening to stories, the children learn to tell stories that involve communicating meaning. This is an effective learning technique, because stories and storytelling feed the children's imaginations, hone their listening skills, extend their…

This paper utilizes a grounded narrative to report characteristics of teaching that are most culturally Fijian. Grounded narrative is a data reduction methodology of qualitative reporting evidenced by the data. It is used to portray vividly and authentically the Fijian educational setting by highlighting the salient cultural characteristics that…

This paper examines how helpful it is to treat, at the theoretical level, the four language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) separately from one another. It is commonly asserted that this is not the best approach, and that these four skills really have a great deal in common and it makes more sense to treat them holistically.…

This article aims to provide an overview of the various uses for e-mail in foreign language learning. It describes the advantages that have been referred to in the literature about the use of e-mail in foreign language learning contexts and provides an overview of the different types of contexts and possibilities for communicative interaction…

This comprehensive curriculum resource guidebook is intended to help the adult education teacher of English to speakers of other languages. It is designed to help teachers reach across cultures and connect with individual English-as-a-Second-or-Other-Language students to better prepare them to become effective teachers. The guidebook begins with a…

This chapter describes a program evaluation of cooperative learning in a private language school devoted to teaching English to Japanese students. Student resistance to cooperative learning was due to a lack of training of students, a lack of understanding of basic cooperative learning principles by administrators, and a lack of cooperative…

This paper describes a first-year English-as-foreign-language junior college reading course in Japan that utilized a combination of whole class instruction and cooperative learning techniques to encourage group discussion and language skill development. Students were randomly divided into groups of eight--a group which became the students' home…

Despite several years of English language instruction, most Japanese students remain unable to produce nor comprehend more than rudimentary English. In order to overcome this problem, students must be motivated to participate in tasks designed to get them to use English communicatively--a difficult task in a country where students typically remain…

This study investigated over a 3-year period the learning strategies high school students reported using for learning a second language. The learning strategies used across languages and modalities are described. The report is organized by instrument--questionnaires, small group interviews, individual think-aloud interviews--and presents the data…

This paper is a pedagogically-oriented case study of a "Gaikokugo" Communication course conducted in an intensive format. After a brief introduction and consideration of the intensive course format, the pedagogical approach guiding the course (together with samples of the materials used in the course provided in the appendix) is…

This paper illustrates how the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is exploring a new paradigm of evaluation that is responsive to the claims, concerns, and issues of stakeholders involved. Known as culturally responsive evaluation, this alternative conceived by the Initiative for Culturally Responsive Evaluation (ICRE) is considered more appropriate than…