As distance learning and other nontraditional methods of language learning become more popular, it is important to understand the factors that influence learners' ability to succeed in such environments. This paper reports on two factors that have a significant impact on the student experience in a self-instructed language program: locus of…

The movement toward inclusion has affected classrooms greatly. Now, more than ever, teachers are addressing a broader range of academic needs in every classroom. But, how can teachers can reach "all" students when students are so academically diverse, have special needs, and/or are English learners? One way is through differentiating instruction.…

With genre now viewed as a fundamental element of writing, both second language writing and mainstream composition studies have seen an increased focus on the question of how writers learn genres. The purpose of this paper is to review key findings from 60 empirical studies that have investigated this question. To this point, research has…

This paper describes a prototype system that allows readers to view an electronic text in multiple simultaneous views, providing insight at several different levels of granularity, including a reading view. This prospect display is combined with a number of tools for manipulating the text, for example by highlighting sections of interest for a…

This paper is a descriptive summary of a research project on blended learning in the Faculty of Arts at the University Complutense Madrid. The project was conducted as action research in 2002-06 by the research group LEETHi. LEETHi's projects focus on the teaching of literature from an intercultural perspective while helping to develop new media…

The instructional guide for the Cutting Edge workplace literacy program, a cooperative project of El Paso Community College (Texas) and Levi Strauss and Company, is an expanded version of one appendix the project handbook. It describes and provides an instructional model for the three-part, job-specific, video-based program of English as a Second…

Individualization and personalization of instruction in general and in foreign language study are examined. The historical and theoretical background of individualization and aspects of various programs are discussed. The concentration is on the literature and programs as developed in the 1971-73 period. Individualization of foreign language…

The first section of this volume includes articles on cross-cultural teaching: "Mau Piailug's Navigation of Hokule'a from Hawaii to Tahiti," by David Lewis; "The New World Order and the Globalization of Social Science: Some Implications for Teaching Cross-Culturally," by Amarjit Singh; "Ponape: Cross-Cultural Contact,…

This report, sponsored by the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), is a summary of evidence-based research on teaching reading to Chinese, Korean, Navajo, and Russian children. It complements a recent summary of the literature on teaching reading to Spanish speaking students. There is a significant need for evidence-based research on…

This book covers essential problems and basic concepts of English language testing. There are 20 chapters in four sections. Section 1, "Background," includes: (1) "Why Teachers Test"; (2) "Some Definitions"; (3) "Validity and Reliability"; and (4) "What You Should Learn about Standardized Tests." Section 2, "Preparing To Write Tests," includes:…

High rates of immigration, especially from Latin America, have created a large population of immigrant youth, many of whom are having difficulty in American schools. The central goals of our project were to assist in empowering students to find academic success and to foster a more bicultural identity. According to three perspectives (youth,…

A growing number of American students are nonnative English speakers. These students are vulnerable to early school exit and schools are facing more and more such students each year. Presently, about 56% of all public school teachers in the United States have at least one English language learner (ELL) student in their class, but less than 20% of…

"Quantitative-oriented" students of French have been found to display a propensity for formal rules of grammar in university-level French language classes, which departs significantly from that of "letters-oriented" students. "Quantitative-oriented" students include mathematics, commerce, science and engineering…

A study investigated the following questions: (1) How does writing develop in a foreign language context? (2) What are the learners' perceptions of writing in a foreign language? (3) What is the influence of first language literacy skills on second language writing? (4) What is the influence of second language proficiency on second language…

A psycholinguistic approach to listening was used in this study of listening skills in second language (L2) acquisition. The study tried to identify and classify the problem-solving processes and strategies used by L2 listeners. The processes were categorized from a perspective that took into account the processes underlying their use rather than…