This study investigated the relationship between what people looked up about new words when different kinds of information were available and how well they remembered those words. Dictionary information was incorporated into a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program comprised of text, highlighted low-frequency words, and access to…

This paper discusses the details of existential sentences constructed with the Portuguese verbs "ter" and "haver" in the interpersonal form. The uses of these verbs are discussed and analyzed in detail. The history and evolution of linguistic changes in Brazilian Portuguese are discussed in an attempt to detect historical…

This document contains the May and November 2000 issues of "New Horizons in Education," with articles in English and Chinese. The May issue includes the following articles: "A Key to Successful Environmental Education: Teacher Trainees' Attitude, Behaviour, and Knowledge" (Kevin Chung Wai Lui, Eric Po Keung Tsang, Sing Lai…

While language-learning strategies as promoters of efficiency in second language learning have generated extensive attention, limited work as been done about awareness-raising regarding language-learning strategies. This study explores the relationship between heightened awareness of strategy use on learners' strategy use and on oral production.…

Acquisition of pragmatic competence by second language learners in the target language environment is examined, drawing on a study of learners of English as a Second Language in Dublin (Ireland). The hypothesis presented is that learners who perceive social or cultural distance between themselves and the target language culture will have greater…

This document consists of three issues of a newsletter published during 1996 and 1997. Issues contain current events articles in Spanish and classroom language learning activities based on those articles. The articles are brief; topics include: the Beatles; the route of Don Quixote; pets; the climate, architecture, history and food of Castile and…

This paper discusses the use of francophone films produced in French-speaking areas outside France in the second-language classroom, using several films from African countries and Canada as examples. The idea is that such films give students more than an abstract idea of a francophone region outside France, and represent large views of language…

Responding to a call to action by California's state leaders to make reading instruction in the early grades a top priority in the public schools, this booklet discusses California's new K-3 reading program. It begins with a discussion of what prompted this new focus on reading, and then discusses the four major elements of a balanced reading…

Noting that little in language can be understood without taking into consideration the wider picture of communicative purpose, content, context, and audience, this book address practical uses of various approaches to discourse analysis. Several assumptions run through the chapters: knowledge is socially constructed; the manner in which language…

This document consists of the four issues of this periodic bibliography published during 1997. All items listed are related to second language instruction and include recently-published resource materials, instructional materials, and literature on instructional methods and techniques, including research. Each citation contains basic bibliographic…

This paper reviews recent research on children's literacy development and learning, focusing on "emergent literacy" theory. Advocates of emergent literacy believe that children learn to read by reading and to write by writing, and that children are active constructors and investigators of their own knowledge. Recent studies have suggested that…

Test data from 200 examinees from the Spanish Teacher Certification Examination and 75 examinees from the French Teacher Certification Examination were used in a study of scale drift in sequentially equated test forms. Using sampling with replacement, 1,000 samples of 100 examinees each for Spanish and 1,000 samples of 50 each for French were…

This paper contributes to the growing debate in Japan about how to teach Japanese students to speak English effectively. It is argued that there must be a shift from learning about the English language to using English to learn and communicate about topics that are interesting and relevant to students' lives in Japan. Role playing is an effective…

The papers in this volume are all phonological in nature, and all but one of them are written within the framework of Optmality Theory. This volume includes work on a variety of languages: American Indian (Kiowa, Koasati, Shoshoni), Austronesian (Muna and Nancowry), Bantu (Tsonga), and Indo European (English and Spanish). The following articles…

This book provides a description and synthesis of a range of relevant practice and offers a framework for making language learning more relevant for new generations of practice. It is intended as a contribution to the debate about the purposes of language studies in higher education in the 21st century. The book is divided into five parts and 15…