This Peace Corps volunteer language training manual is based on the experience of two pre-service trainings and was guided by the Peace Corps language training curriculum. The learning approach is competency-based or topic-oriented to provide survival competencies. Three main sections review phonetics, topics for discussion, and practical grammar…

A study examined the relationship between two kinds of language competence, linguistic and pragmatic, within the larger domain of the learner's overall competence. Specifically, it investigated whether linguistic competence is (1) necessary, and (2) sufficient for pragmatic competence. Subjects were 14 students of French at Indiana University and…

Despite disagreement about the value of multicultural education, schools are putting some multicultural learning into the curricula already in place. This guide for parents describes the different ways that schools are teaching multiculturalism. Some schools emphasize programs that focus on information and teach about different cultural groups by…

A study of Japanese learners' acquisition of the article system in English noun phrases investigated whether (1) presence or absence of a modifier affected the choice of definite article used, and (2) whether the choice of definite article was influenced by reliance on knowledge of commonly-occurring sequences. Subjects were 111 Japanese…

A survey investigated the attitudes and preferences of business administration students concerning college courses in international business and job assignments abroad. Respondents were from 13 regional business schools, broadly distributed in the United States. All were public institutions. Questions elicited information about student…

This report describes a project to develop an English grammar-checking word processor intended for use by college students with hearing impairments. The project succeeded in its first objective, achievement of 92 percent parsing accuracy across the freely written compositions of college-bound deaf students. The second objective, ability to use the…

A study investigated how teaching students of English as a Second Language (ESL) about American culture would affect their attitudes toward both American and their native cultures. Subjects were 61 freshman and sophomore Thai students of English in a Thai university, divided into an experimental group (n=31), which attended a course on American…

In response to findings from a study of community college students' motivations for studying a foreign language that indicated that many students cited "personal fulfillment," a second study was undertaken to determine factors that affected students' sense of fulfillment. Specifically, the study sought to determine the relationship between…

This curriculum guide is designed for the Arabic language training of Peace Corps workers in Tunisia, and reflects daily communication needs in that context. An introductory section describes the materials' organization and competency-based approach, and lists the 28 specific competencies targeted and the constructions taught within each…

A study investigated the effect of the language in which a text is written on the imagery and emotional response of biliterate readers. Subjects were 64 native Mandarin-speaking university students majoring in English in a Chinese university. Subjects read a letter describing a typical trip on a third-class train in either English or Chinese, then…

The brochure, intended for the parents of children in elementary school or younger, answers common questions about second language learning and instruction for children. In question-and-answer form, the following issues are addressed: the benefits of knowing a second language; why it is better for a child to learn a second language in elementary…

A study in two South African schools investigated the impact of encouraging free, voluntary reading on the English language skills of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Subjects were 139 fourth- through seventh-grade students in an experimental group and 105 students in a control group. Pretests of reading comprehension were administered…

A study compared the narrative structures in stories told by monolingual Swedish-speaking children (n=19) and Finnish-speaking immersion students of Swedish (n=19), all in fifth grade. The immersion students had been taught in immersion since kindergarten. Subjects each told a story based on a wordless picture book, which was then analyzed for a…

A study investigated the frequent choice of the term "always" instead of the more appropriate term "often" in the essay writing of native Chinese-speaking learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), focusing on how problematic usage of "always" can adversely affect perceptions of the student's competence in…

The textbook in intermediate Czech is designed for second-year students of the language and those who already have a basic knowledge of Czech grammar and vocabulary. It is appropriate for use in a traditional college language classroom, the business community, or a government language school. It can be covered in a year-long conventional…