Focuses on how skills required by the visually impaired to facilitate language learning are acquired in mainstream and special schools. (18 references) (CK)

Examines issues affecting the teaching and learning of listening skills within the study of Japanese as a Foreign Language. Listening within foreign-language learning is a complex skill, and students encounter several difficulties in learning to listen for comprehension. Teachers face concerns ranging from resource availability to how to teach…

Summarizes a study on block scheduling for second-language programs among Canadian middle school students. Results show that students studying French on a block schedule (e.g., one-half day instruction over a 10-week period) performed better on standardized tests than did control students who received standard 40-minute per day French instruction.…

Discusses technology's role in improving teaching and learning for English-language learners (ELLs). Highlights include: problems associated with ELLs' academic underachievement; evidence of how technology can improve learning; a case study that illustrates difficulties teachers of ELL might have in implementing new technology; and how technology…

Describes an interdisciplinary program offering modified Spanish classes to students with special needs. Through preliminary identification, eligible students are signed up for classes. Exemplifies an effective way to confront problems related to a more diverse student population; to comply with regulations imposed by the Americans with…

Examined the motivation of 140 elementary- and 451 secondary-level students toward the learning of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean in formal classroom settings in public schools. Information was also gathered from 847 parents concerning attitudes toward foreign-language learning and involvement in their child's study. (Author/JL)

Discusses a foreign-language-reading approach through which students are exposed to various books that they self-select and discuss in literature circles, noting 49 college students' reactions to the approach in a French language class. Student surveys indicated that the method had a positive impact on their reading comprehension and attitudes,…

Examines the phenomenon of pragmatic transfer as a possible basis for cultural stereotypes. Data from second language (L2) German learners of English are compared with data from native speakers of American English. Results suggest that the German English L2 speakers produced responses more in keeping with German rules of speaking and conventions…

In this article, the authors describe the Georgetown University Consortium Project (GCP), a three-year assessment study designed to document the learning abroad of students from Georgetown University, The University of Minnesota, Rice University, and Dickinson College. Funded by two Department of Education Title VI grants, this ongoing three-year…

In higher education circles, it has become commonplace to observe that global awareness must be an important educational goal if students are to cope successfully as citizens and professionals with the challenges of globalization. Yet despite the growing acknowledgment that international education must be a central priority, most indicators…

This article is the second part of a report on research that examined immersion language teachers' strategies to modify their speech in order to maintain use of the target language. As described in the first part in "Babel," Volume 40, Number 2 (Veque, 2005), this classroom-based research, undertaken at Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in…

This study, situated in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context where non-English major college learners are usually required to read content-area textbooks in English, tried to determine what motivates students to engage in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) reading activities. Three student informants were invited to reflect on their own…

Over the years, Ms. Lane's third grade mathematics classroom had become increasingly diverse. Challenged by the growing population of English Language Learners (ELL) and her need to change her teaching practice to meet their needs, Ms. Lane selected to study how best to teach one of her greatest challenges, Ana, a Latino ELL who also had a…

In light of the continuing debate surrounding bilingual education, there has been a renewed interest to examine the perceptions and views on the subject from various constituents. The purpose of this study was to examine the group who is the target of and most affected by this controversy--English language learners. The study surveyed 280 Latino…

This study applies theorizing from educational psychology and language learning to hypothesize a model of language learning that takes into account affect, motivation, and language learning strategies. The study employed a questionnaire to assess variables of motivation, self-efficacy, anxiety, and language learning strategies. The sample…