Second language (L2) learners of tone languages do not perceive and produce the different tones of the target language with equal ease. The most common explanation for these asymmetries is that acoustically salient tones are the easiest to learn. An alternative explanation is that tones are easiest to learn when they are highly frequent in the…

Describes the goals and responsibilities of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Liverpool University, including brief biographical sketches of staff members and a listing of research in progress. (CB)

Three research projects conducted by three major televised FLES programs attempted to assess the effect of follow-up activities by the classroom teacher. The programs involved in the projects were "Parlons Francais," the University of Illinois Foreign Language Instruction Project (Spanish), and the Denver-Stanford Project on the Context…

A review of higher education Portuguese language programs explores the characteristics of these programs between 1945 and 1979 and enrollment in the 1980s. A discussion focuses on how recent developments in French and Spanish applied linguistics and new teaching methodologies and materials will affect the future development of such programs. (CB)

This study considers whether the outcomes for students who participated in an individualized instructional approach to language learning in intermediate college-level foreign language courses are different from the outcomes for students who participated in a lecture-recitation aproach. A two-treatment group quasi-experimental design was used. The…

Discusses research regarding College of Liberal Arts students at the University of Minnesota where there are proficiency requirement-based second-language programs. Research results provide data that compare qualitative results on reading, listening, writing, and speaking proficiency tests of students from the proficiency requirement program at…

A study examined university students' beliefs about the availability and content of Spanish courses designed for heritage speakers. Subjects were 50 students in three classes at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, who were administered a questionnaire on student demographics, prior Spanish language instruction or instruction in…

A 3-YEAR EXPERIMENT, BEGUN IN 1959 IN THE CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NONSPECIALISTS IN FLES PROGRAMS. THE TWO CONTROL CLASSES IN THE EXPERIMENT WERE TAUGHT BY A SPECIALIST WHO MODELED, APPRAISED, AND REPRESENTED THE CULTURE OF THE LANGUAGE IN AN AUDIOLINGUALLY ORIENTED CLASSROOM SITUATION,…

This cooperative research project, supported by the Office of Education Bureau of Research, attempts to answer questions on the effectiveness of reading instruction during a sixth grade beginning Spanish program. Major areas studied include: (1) the effects of reading instruction on listening, speaking, and reading skills, (2) the amounts of…

Spanish, English, and American Indian languages in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico and bilingualism and language contact in the region are addressed in a collection of articles. Approaches to research in the languages of this region are discussed in articles by Valdes, Lope Blanch, and Brandt. Cultural and sociolinguistic…

A 3-year study of the effect of 3 years of audiolingually oriented FLES instruction on student achievement in French and Spanish classes in grades 7-12 is described. Samples of the language proficiency tests used as research instruments for grades 7 and 9 are reproduced in the extensive appendixes, along with the objectives of the FLES program.…

Seven research tasks and related projects undertaken by the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) are described in a series of summary reports. For each specific task, an introductory section outlines the background, relevant research, and scope of the task. Subsequent sections contain reports of studies done as part of the task, each…