A recent wave of linguistic research has attempted to demonstrate empirically that in learning the syntax of a second language, adults re-access their universal grammar (UG). However, the conspicuous lack of success of second language learners has caused researchers to seek evidence in experimental data. The most expedient source of this data is…

Three types of processes occur in language learning, each intricately connected with the others. Social processes are the steps by which learners and target language speakers create a social situation in which target language communication is possible and desired. Linguistic processes are the ways in which assumptions held by target language…

An approach to the combination of typewriting instruction and English as a second language (ESL) instruction is described. A typewriting class can serve as a complement to ESL instruction while providing a useful skill. Incidental learning of both elements of language and the material being typed occurs while typing. An integrated program…

The interaction of two elementary-age American children with their bilingual mother and French-speaking peers was monitored to determine learning strategies in a natural French immersion situation. Seven strategies were discovered, each of which provided the necessary ingredients of processible input, practice, and feedback to the language…

The role of grammar in foreign language study should be shaped by realistic expectations of what academic study of a second language can accomplish. The temptation to emphasize grammar instruction above all else is reinforced by the patness of grammar instruction, by the measurability of student proficiency in grammar, and by the teacher's own…

Some basic tenets of the audiovisual approach to language instruction are challenged in this article which considers the ways in which "meaning" is given to sound sequences. It is argued here that (1) the meaning of a sound sequence does not derive solely or primarily from visual stimuli, (2) that different parts of speech derive meaning in…

In this paper the author hopes to "persuade methodologists and foreign language teachers to attack the problem of foreign language acquisition" from what he considers to be a "more strategic angle." He is concerned with how language proficiency, rather than the individual skills, can be taught. The author doubts whether it is…

Current thinking of specialists in the study of language learning provides the basis of this book. The 12 chapters of the book and their authors are as follows: 1. Introduction--Charles A. Ferguson; 2. The Acquisition of Language in Infant and Child--Martin D. S. Braine; 3. Development of Native Language Skills beyond the Early Years--John B.…

Discusses the article in this journal by C. Cheng advocating teaching of simplified Chinese characters. This article agrees with his conclusions but finds fault with his methodology. It is felt that the sequence of learning simplified and complex characters should be determined by both a Chinese linguist and an experimental psychologist. (CHK)

The Pacific Northwest Council of Foreign Languages' 1977 conference is reported here. Second language learning, language instruction, and the future of foreign language study were topics of several papers summarized in this article. (CHK)

Using practical examples, such as the language experience of foreign tourists, it is shown that the "natural method" (using target language only) hinders learning. Use of the mother tongue is necessary for learning foreign structures (e.g., arranging native words according to the foreign syntax). (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Discusses the superiority of information processing (IP) theory to stimulus-response theory, specifically in terms of language comprehension, language production, and the role of memory. (KM)

Looks at the debate over whether foreign language study is intellectually challenging. Examines four points in the debate: the contrast between content and skill; the nature of the learning and teaching material; the nature of classroom interaction; and the idea of osmosis. (SED)

Discusses spontaneous playback, an involuntary, sometimes insistent mental "replay" of the second language being studied. A survey of 160 second-language students determined that playback is not limited to a small number of language-oriented people but is in fact a widespread phenomenon. (SED)

Introduces the notion of a "discourse world," that is, a set of elements against the background of which a unit of talk makes sense, and claims that several discourse worlds coexist in classroom discourse. The notion is interpreted in terms of frame theory and applied to classroom language learning. (SED)