Discusses a research project aimed at designing a computer-based system to help students learn to summarize French texts by using a method called Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). Such a system uses previous, similar situations to make a new summary by reusing and adapting the same summarization rules. The rationale underlying the learning of text…

Examines the structure of language-learning beliefs about learning in general and beliefs specifically about language learning and explores the relationship between the two belief domains. A brief questionnaire was administered to 187 college students learning Japanese as a foreign language. Factor analyses identified five dimensions of general…

Examines the author's daughter's experiences of being socialized into the language of Iceland through the eight-year-old's immersion in Icelandic culture. Shows how play-based activities with native-speaking peers was critical to her language and literacy development. Argues that authentic activity in social life is the key to learning literacy…

Examines an early form of study abroad and reveals that the issues that were at work within the study abroad experience of the seventh century, including the challenge of cultural integration, are similar to ones facing international educators today. (Author/VWL)

Discusses two parallel processes at work that are upgrading the role of the learner and downgrading that of the teacher. The article examines the reactions of teachers to this situation. The article concludes that improved training for second-language teachers is required to address the problems arising from this situation. (CK)

Examines the role of imagined interactions in moving through the cognitive stages of spontaneous second language acquisition. Reviews the findings as a cognitive construct for processing social experience. Introduces a cognitive skill stage model of second language acquisition. Discusses potential applications of the construct of imagined…

Papers in this collection represent different aspects of current research into writing in a second language. Papers deal with: (1) backtracking in writing the second language; (2) developmental relationships in the acquisition of English syntax; (3) models of adult second language writing instruction; (4) and second language writing subprocesses.…

Considers an unexpected and remarkable preference for second language reading among some dyslexics that has been noted, presenting a challenge to accepted theory on dyslexia and the capacity for second language learning. Shows that two dyslexic groups differed significantly in the degree to which task performance, including reading efficiency, was…

Used a broadly focused learning style instrument to identify a combination of learning styles that might be correlated with foreign language achievement at the college level. Participants were 100 university students enrolled in French or Spanish first and second semester courses. (Author/VWL)

Examines the role of metacognition, particularly problem solving strategies, in how second language students learn in a multimedia environment, studying problem solving strategies used by students completing exercises in Mydlarski and Paramskas' program, Vi-Conte. Presents recommendations for training teachers, noting that the flexibility of…

Provides a description of the following speech technologies for language learning: recorded speech (from analog to digital); speech recognition; speech synthesis; multilingual speech to speech; speech on the Web. A resource list is also provided. (Author/VWL)

Presents a new term in German language literacy and cultural studies: germanophone, which parallels the widely accepted terms, anglophone and francophone. Lack of the term highlights the reality that current German studies still bears traces of its origins in a particular definition of German nationalism (which must be overcome if German culture…

Describes research based in one primary school in Peterborough in the English Midlands into the phenomenon of extended visits to Pakistan by pupils of Pakistani ethnic origin. Data were gathered from parents, teachers, and pupils to investigate the educational challenges and opportunities presented in the situation. (Author/VWL)

Discussion of interaction and performance feedback in the language learning process focuses on a study at the Open University of Hong Kong that explored tutor and student perspectives on the feedback in a distance language course. Results showed a need for more training for tutors and students to successfully use feedback. (Author/LRW)

This paper investigates the critical period hypothesis (CPH) for the acquisition of a second language sound system (phonology) in a naturalistic setting. Ten cases of successful late-starters with a native-like Hebrew pronunciation are presented in an effort to determine possible variables that may account for their exceptional accomplishment. The…