Examined decisions about which languages to include in the school curriculum and which languages to use as languages of learning and teaching in South Africa, paying particular attention to the relative role and status of Xhosa and English from the perspective of high school students studying Xhosa as a first language and English as a second.…

Reports evidence of the extent to which Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language learners seek to adopt second language communicative norms. Examines learners self reports on attitudes toward the target language, subjective reactions to second language pragmatic norms, and motivations toward accommodating to those norms. (Author/VWL)

A questionnaire was submitted to Iranian students of English to determine their attitudes toward language, learning, and language learning. Responses were subjected to statistical analysis. Attitudes were generally favorable to second language learning, but confusion on some points suggests teachers might consider concepts of language and language…

Discusses the attitudes students have towards English before and after their tertiary studies. Follows 35 students in their university studies and provides another avenue for examining the language situation in Hong Kong. Findings suggest that students were generally comfortable with the language environments and courses offered in secondary and…

Examines English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) undergraduate students' experiences with communicative language teaching (CLT), supported by in-class tasks and after-class newsgroup discussion. Presents students' perceptions of and their feelings about their learning experiences with this teaching approach, as well the frames of reference within which…

Investigated what English-language-learning classroom activities tertiary-level learners liked, and then compared these preferences with the activity preferences that teachers thought the learners held. Results show teachers were able to gauge their learners' preferences with accuracy for 54% of the activities, and that there was no clear pattern…

Results obtained through the implementation of an innovative technique designed to investigate the relationship between classroom interaction and learning outcomes are reported. Topicalization by learners is shown to be influential in accounting for learners' claims about uptake, learners' perceptions about what they have learned, in one…

Reports Chinese university students views on appropriateness and effectiveness of communicative and non-communicative activities in English-as-a-Foreign-Language courses. Results reveal students' perceptions sometimes surprised their teachers, and students' perceived difficulties caused by communicative language teaching had their source in…

Investigated the perceptions of the cooperative learning experience of a group of middle school learners who studied the rules and mechanics of English as a foreign language, according to the dynamic of the Student-Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) cooperative strategy. Subjects were Lebanese EFL learners. Results indicated learners were…

This article examines Swedish efforts to evaluate foreign-language achievement in compulsory (elementary and early secondary) schools. Evaluations conducted in 1989 and 1992 found that goal achievement in English-as-a-Second-Language instruction is largely in line with prescribed curriculum objectives. Contains 27 references. (MDM)

Compares English-as-a-Foreign-Language students beliefs about language learning, using responses to the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) to identify similarities and differences across cultural groups. Examination of individual BALLI responses did not yield clear-cut cultural differences in beliefs. (Author/VWL)

A teacher-developed questionnaire responded to by Peruvian secondary school students (N=236) about learning four basic skills in English revealed that 2.1 to 17 percent preferred to be taught only one or two of the skills, while 73.7 percent preferred to be taught all four basic skills. (CB)

Reports results from two questionnaires given to third-year adult learners of Spanish, French, German on beliefs regarding idiomaticity. Analysis of data showed that learners want idioms to be part of their language learning; they can predict their performances on idiomatic tasks; and they have specific beliefs on the importance of learning…

Presents the results of a small-scale study carried out to investigate how a representative sample of 24 students at a large language school in Barcelona interpreted items on an end-of-course evaluation form. The study aimed to explore two key questions: the extent to which individuals interpret questionnaire items in similar fashion and the…

Discusses two surveys conducted at the University of Hong Kong that measured students' willingness to adopt active speech roles in second-language classrooms. Findings reveal that students expressed a liking for communicative work at school and a preference for classes permitting students to do most of the talking, but that they had a low…