Looks at how the learner variables of age, sex, language background, high school graduation status, and length of stay in the United States affect performance on six English as a second language tests: two cloze tests, a reading tests, a structure test, and two listening tests. Both test advantage and test favoritism/bias were found. (SED)

Addresses two questions: What strategies do good language learners use? What factors affect choice of language learning? A review and synthesis of existing research on language learning strategies, including a number of new and unpublished studies, is used to answer these questions. (53 references) (Author/VWL)

Four studies were conducted in which subjects performed three sets of tasks tapping, in a standard format, progressively refined, non-linguistic processes in speech processing. The studies examined the following: (1) auditory versus phonetic processes in the discrimination of consonants; (2) auditory versus phonetic processes in loudness and pitch…

Identified the acoustic features of the vowels produced by Hebrew speakers differing in age and sex. Ninety speakers were recorded. Vowels were presented in a nonword context that was placed in a meaningful Hebrew sentence. Results are discussed. (Author/VWL)

As the strongest, most cohesive, and most viable societal unit, the African family has a great impact on literacy and reading. Many different types of family structure exist in Africa, and individuals frequently feel a strong sense of responsbility for the children of their servants and for members of their age, ethnic, religious, and social…

The focus of this highly quantitative investigation is the analysis of the differences observed, both in methodological approach and in language choice in the classroom, during five years of classroom visitations. The study reflects information collected from two very different institutions with radically distinct populations: a rural setting with…

This study examined the language use practices of three bilingual students enrolled in a fourth-grade class and of the class as a whole. The study found that most children reported using greater amounts of English as they progressed through the grades, and that children consistently held very positive attitudes toward Spanish and bilingualism.…

Analysis of the English language aptitude test scores of 824 full-time Jewish students studying at a major Israeli university evidenced both slope and intercept bias by ethnicity (Western or Oriental), and by gender, tending significantly to overpredict or underpredict students' first-year cumulative grade point averages. (31 references)…

A study investigated the effects of second language (L2) acquisition age, length of L2 exposure, and gender on bilingual coding, and examined whether the bilingual dual coding effect in incidental recalls would be the same as in Indo-European languages. The bilingual dual coding hypothesis proposes that the individual's image system and the two…

This study examined the relationship between language learning strategies and factors such as proficiency, teacher perceptions, gender, aptitude, learning style, personality, and motivation among 520 adults studying various languages at the Foreign Service Institute. It found a low but significant relationship between cognitive strategy use and…

Presents a synthesis of the results of two research studies that examined he attitudes to Web-based language learning of primary, secondary, and tertiary students. Factors investigated include he following; students comfort. enjoyment, strategy strengths, learning styles, study preferences, and age and gender differences. (Author/VWL)

Reports a cross-sectional study of second language communication among students in a junior high French late immersion program. Effects of language, sex, and grade on willingness to communicate (WTC), anxiety, perceived communication competence, and frequency of communication in French and on attitude/motivation variables are examined globally and…

A study investigated the nature and extent of African American interest in African languages. Data were gathered in (1) an informal telephone survey of selected universities having an African American studies department and/or a sizeable number of Black students, and African-centered public schools, and (2) a survey of 234 African Americans and…

The language competence of adults in Great Britain was examined in a national study involving interviews between April 28 and May 9, 1999, with a representative sample of 3,967 adults over the age of 16 years. Of those surveyed, 58% spoke only their mother tongue, 29% spoke one additional language, and 10% spoke two additional languages. Fifteen…

A representative sample of 4,000 adults aged 16 and over in all three nations of Great Britain were surveyed regarding the languages they currently speak, their current participation in language learning, and their future language-learning intentions. The following were among the key findings: (1) 29% of adults can speak one foreign language, and…