The apparent difficulty of students of French as a second language to acquire French vocabulary is examined, drawing on experience with teaching Irish university students and the structures and stylistic traits peculiar to French. It is noted that while certain kinds of words (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) occupy little space in text, they take…

A study investigated the rate of vocabulary acquisition in English-Japanese word pairs among college-age Japanese learners in a classroom situation. Subjects were 41 students in an intensive program of English for academic purposes. Three groups of students were given word pair lists of different lengths, and guided in studying them over a period…

This study compared narratives in Spanish, Basque, and English of a 5-year-old trilingual child. The child produced narratives of a familiar story, learned through an English video recording, in each language while looking at a printed version of the story. All interlocutors were adult native speakers of the languages, well known to the child. The…

A study of second language acquisition in two Japanese children, and corresponding examination of research literature, led to this effort to clarify terminology related to cross-linguistic influence in language contact situations. Terms include: bilingualism, code-switching, language mixing, language transfer, and borrowing. Two forms of transfer…

Chapter titles include the following: "Language Teaching, Accreditation and the Social Purpose of Adult Education" (Liam Kane); "Student Attitudes to Learning, Assessment and Accreditation" (Fran Beaton); "Assessment on a Fully Accredited Open Language Programme: Achieving Beneficial Backwash in a Standardised Scheme" (Dounia Bissar); "Introducing…

This paper considers the importance of teaching "register" in the Spanish as a second language classroom. Generally speaking, register means "variety according to use." A register is what you are speaking at the time determined by what you are doing (the nature of the social activity being engaged in), and an expression of…

This manual is a product of the portfolio assessment project, a 3-year project on the use of portfolios as an assessment measure in elementary through higher education foreign language classrooms. Portfolio assessment is the systematic, longitudinal collection of student work created in response to specific, known instructional objectives and…

In recent years, language awareness has been a popular topic of lively discussion. Both linguists and language teachers have shown interest in consciousness raising that has been considered a means of establishing motivated and effective language learning. Most studies have approached the subject from the viewpoint of foreign languages, and less…

This paper envisions what a standards-based second language methods course might look like. In exploring the possibilities, the paper describes a current model for preservice training, generalizations gleaned from a study of a second language methods syllabi archive, and an analysis of and reflection upon a particular second language methods…

In the United States, two-way immersion (TWI) is an educational approach that integrates native English speakers and native speakers of another language (usually Spanish) for content and literacy instruction in both languages. In recent years, the number of TWI programs has grown rapidly. This report examines key issues to consider when planning…

This monograph offers eight papers in four sections. Section 1, "Renewed Debates," includes "The Gordian Knot: Language, Literature, and Critical Thinking" (Jean Marie Schultz). Section 2, "Colleagues in Dialogue," includes "Developing Literacy and Literary Competence: Challenges for Foreign Language Departments" (Heidi Byrnes and Susanne Kord)…

This paper describes unique opportunities offered by the Internet for Japanese college students learning to write in English. It focuses on tasks that students were assigned using discussion forums on the Internet. It begins by describing the Web site, which is <http://www.esljapan.com>, looking at software considerations, privacy issues,…

This book is about the prospect of a social turn in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), in particular, that part of SLA that is devoted to the input-interaction-output (IIO) model. The book is intended to critically examine some of the basic notions and assumptions that underpin this model and to suggest a more interdisciplinary and…

This study identified the second language acquisition, culture shock, and language stress of adult Latinas in New York as related to language, culture, and education. Participants were eight adult Latinas, for whom Spanish was the first language, who had come to the United States 10-15 years previously and developed some functioning English as a…

This review of research considers how best to teach English-language learners. A realistic appraisal of the empirical database indicates that research findings have failed to provide answers to questions about the importance of native language instruction and the best age and best methods for introducing academic instruction in English. The review…