Discusses the importance of the cultural component in the language learning process for providing a sound communication base. Examples are presented that reflect differences in speech patterns, such as politeness, of native speakers of British and Moroccan Arabic, with emphasis on culturally specific language patterns. (25 references)(OD)

Investigation of the attitudes of 1,252 children in grades 4 through 12 toward studying Hebrew at their private Jewish school in South Africa measured attitudes toward language learning, traditional orientations, nationalist orientations, motivation, and self-rated proficiency. Results showed that attitudes decreased in positive value over the 9…

Explores uses for intelligent courseware in language classrooms. Defines three types of intelligent systems: microworlds, intelligent grammar checkers, and intelligent tutoring systems. Explains uses of these systems for all phases of writing instruction and for second language instruction. Questions for future research are raised. (Author/LS)

Canada's Summer Language Bursary Program is a joint national-provincial effort providing immersion in French- or English-as-a-Second-Language to Canadian students. Despite 18 years of success and the benefits gained at small expense, the program is not well-known and risks losing funding. Self-promotion and lobbying are necessary. (Author/MSE)

Describes a study of 80 undergraduate foreign language learners that compared the use of a hyper-reference source incorporating an electronic dictionary and a conventional paper dictionary. Measures of consultation frequency, study time, efficiency, and comprehension are examined; bilingual and monolingual dictionary use is compared; and further…

A discussion of U.S. language policy formation and planning covers the following: the literacy crisis, education of language minority populations, "official" English movement, gender neutrality, federal legislation, and emerging issues such as the status of Puerto Rico, American Indian languages, foreign language education, and the…

Studies the early childhood classroom as a setting for the continuing development of communication, cognition, and social skills for language minority students. Because the integration of language and content is best done through the use of children's literature, weekly literary selections motivate student interest and stimulate oral and written…

Classroom actions of early French immersion teachers were identified and the teachers' perceptions of their effectiveness were determined. The majority of actions referred to vocabulary instruction management. The need for a distinct teacher preparation program for teaching in a second-language context was found. (Contains 43 references.)…

Examines ways to involve language students in the test-making process. Discusses student-generated test items, test goals, outdoor paired vocabulary testing, interactive grading, and peer testing. Argues that student learning is more important than test scores. (nine references) (MDM)

Discusses activities that can help language students use the concept of personal competence to become better learners. Teachers can list student and teacher responsibilities, ask students for feedback on class activities, and implement student suggestions to accommodate individual and group learning styles. (three references) (MDM)

Describes a secondary school language teacher's use of electronic mail and an electronic bulletin board system to conduct several classes for multinational students of English at Hong Kong International School. Student assignments, student assessment, the development of communication and thinking skills, and unexpected difficulties involving…

The acquisition of English and Spanish was examined among 298 Mexican-American students who were limited-English-proficient at the start of kindergarten and who participated in maintenance bilingual programs in grades K-3. Oral proficiency in both languages increased for both boys and girls and across groups that had differed in early Spanish…

Reports on the case of a university student studying English as a Second Language who disliked the informal writing of dialogue journals. Implications from the case suggest the need for researchers and practitioners to consider students' perspectives when employing nontraditional writing assignments. (53 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the growing influx of English loan words in Japanese, describing the structural and semantic changes that English loans go through in their Japanization process and the roles that they are expected to play. The social factors that drive the influx are also examined. (seven references) (MDM)

A year-long project to develop an automatic English grammar text-analysis for Chinese students in Taiwan to help writing revision processes is described. The project analyzed 135 writing samples, developed an electronic dictionary, and researched error analysis, linguistic analysis, and natural language processing in computational linguistics.…