In reviewing views on the use of L1 in L2 classrooms, the author argues for the benefits of using L1. The author argues for the benefits of written translation activities based on the ideas that translation uses authentic materials, is interactive, learner-centered, and promotes learner autonomy. The author also argues that written translation…

Adult education programs must increasingly serve non-native speakers of English, many of whom are neither literate in their native language nor in English. It is suggested that first language literacy promotes second language acquisition and that literacy skills in the native language are likely to transfer to the second language. This digest…

This teacher's guide is intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language in an immersion setting. It provides a host of strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom in Grades 6 through 12. The first section is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure. It…

In this monograph, convergent pedagogy, which is a foreign language education approach to develop functional bilingualism in students, is described as a new approach to teaching language in bi- or multilingual contexts. Convergent pedagogy was introduced to the Mali educational system as a language education experiment in 1987. This monograph is a…

Explores historical and intellectual causes for the lack of interdisciplinarity between language education and development economics. Reviews three development settings in Bangladesh, Egypt, and Latin America that illustrate the need to devolve responsibility for development and notes language and literacy play a vital role in this process.…

Issues of language, culture, and identity are closely integrated to many Native Americans. These are issues that English language teachers must be be sensitive to and address in their classrooms, especially for those English language learners whose new language and culture threaten their first language and culture. Discusses current views on…

Discusses a new technological means implemented by the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma to teach the Choctaw language. After an initial year of telecourses, an Internet course was introduced that has served 1,000 students at varying levels of intensity. The program has served other goals, such as cultural solidarity and political prestige for he tribal…

Investigates how second-generation Korean-American students form and transform their senses of ethnicity through their participation in Korean language classes. An ethnographic study was carried out at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where most Korean language courses were populated by second- and 1.5-generation Korean Americans.…

In this paper we explore the relationship between language acquisition, and the construction of a symbolic world. According to Bowers (1989) language is a collection of patterns regulating social life. This conception is close to that of Symbolic Interactionists (Charon, 1989) who see society as made up of interacting individuals who are symbol…

Research and theory on second language reading has reached heightened dimensions in recent years. It is through reading that learners access much information concerning the target language and culture, and consequently reading is an important part of almost all language programs across stages of acquisition. The purpose of this article is to offer…

This teacher's guide, written in French, intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language (immersion), provides a host of strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom (grades 1 through 7). Section 1 is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure, discussing the…

This digest outlines the reasons for and challenges of developing the language skills of heritage language speakers and describes one effort to carry this out, the Heritage Languages Initiative. Specific sections address the following: developing language skills of U.S. residents; the range of language proficiencies of heritage language speakers;…

The increasing number of students who enter U.S. schools from homes where languages other than English are spoken, and the recognition that proficiency in non-English languages is a valuable national resource, have generated interest in the field of heritage language instruction. A heritage language student is a language student who is raised in a…

This publication, launched by the French Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association and prepared under the Millennium Partnership Program in Canada, presents a collection of essays written by French language immersion students in the elementary and secondary grades. Essay topics touch on the following themes: remembering, dreaming, celebrating,…

Highlights the potential demands for the services of the speech therapist. In a linguistic assessment, the therapist needs to differentiate between first and second language learning problems. An assessment procedure must allow a child to respond in either of his/her two languages and be given credit for such responses. (Author/PJM)